Almost half of Arab leaders are boycotting a weekend summit hosted by Syria, an Arab League official said on Friday, as US allies snub Damascus over the political crisis in Lebanon. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will host the leaders of Algeria, Comoros, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Sudan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, the official told AFP.
With US allies Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan sending only low-level delegations, only 12 leaders from the 22-member body will attend the two-day summit, which opens on Saturday.
The leaders of Iraq, Morocco and Oman will also be absent, while Lebanon is boycotting the event.
As leaders began gathering in Damascus on Friday, Assad greeted the first arrival Comoran President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, followed by Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi, an AFP correspondent said.
Damascus airport has been closed to all commercial flights until Sunday for the leaders' arrivals.
On Thursday, Syria's press hailed the summit a success due to the absence of US influence, a reference to the boycott by the heads of state from several regional US-friendly heavyweights.
"It is enough for the Arab summit in Damascus that the American ghost is banished... it is enough that for the first time all its decisions and agreements will be free of the American virus," state-owned Ath-Thawra wrote.