Arab leaders will gather in Jordan to map a long-term political and economic strategy, but the possibility looms of a rival summit of hardliners, sources said yesterday.
Syrian Foreign Minister Abdul Halim Khaddam was reported en route to Libya and Algeria in an effort to promote a boycott of the League of Arab States’ meeting. “There is a possibility of a sorehead summit,” said one knowledgeable source who asked not to be identifed.
The split in the ranks of the 22-member Arab League has been brought about by the two-month old Iran-Iraq war and the fear of radical regimes that Iraq would win at least implicit approval for its position at the summit Sources predicted between 16 and 19 kings, ruling sheiks and presidents would go to Amman for the summit, which opens Tuesday at the Royal Theater Hall on the western fringes of Jordan’s capital.
