Arab Summit to convene in Baghdad on March 29th next, official says

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The next Arab Summit shall convene in Baghdad on March 29th, on the level of Kings, Presidents and Leaders, Iraq’s Representative in the Arab League, Qais al-Azzawi, said on Tuesday. “The 23rd Arab Summit will be held in its scheduled time in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on the 29th of March next, on the level of Kings, Presidents and Leaders,” Azzawi told the Saudi-based Al-Riyadh Newspaper. “The preliminary meetings for the Arab Summit shall be held at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo, with the exception of of a meeting by the Arab League‘s Council, on the level of foreign ministers, that will be held in Baghdad on March 28th,” he added. Azzawi had said earlier that preparations were taking place in Baghdad to host the next Arab Summit, pointing out that the amount allocated for the Summit has reached US$100 millions, according to an Associated Press report from Cairo. Noteworthy is that the Arab Summit will be held in Baghdad next March, and Iraq had announced a broad plan to rehabilitate the streets, buildings and 5-star hotels, including Babel, Palestine, Baghdad and Ishtar. Iraq’s Parliament Speaker, Usama al-Nujeifi, had stated in the Parliament’s last session on Tuesday, that the Baghdad Arab Summit would be held in its scheduled time, adding that the current crisis in some Arab states would not delay its holding. The Chairman of the Parliament’s Security & Defense Committee, Hassan al-Suneid, pointed out that the Committee had decided to form a special security and intelligence committee for the holding of the Arab Summit in Baghdad. SKH (TP)/SR 355