BEIRUT: An Arab summit scheduled to take place here in March already looks doomed by traditional Arab rivalries and controversies, analysts and officials say. Shia leader and parliament speaker Nabih Berri has demanded a postponement and change of venue, saying it is unacceptable for Beirut to host Muammar Qadhafi, whom Shias blame for the disappearance of one of their leaders in 1978. Threats have been made to Qadhafi’s safety in Lebanon and Libya has asked that the venue be switched to Cairo.

Syria also has reservations about the March 27-28 summit. It suspects it might back Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s call for a ceasefire in the uprising against Israel, mirroring the line taken by Arab foreign ministers in December which Damascus slammed as defeatist and weak.

Some diplomats said Syria favoured a postponement of the summit because it wanted to avoid a face-to-face meeting and possibly a handshake with Arafat. “The Syrians are uneasy about having a summit in which Yasser Arafat could become the star and because of the language expected from the summit, which will not be behind the intifada,” a senior Arab diplomat said.

Syria is also concerned that the summit will issue a moderate declaration on the Israel-Palestine conflict, in an effort to appease the West which has put strong pressure on leading Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt since Sept 11. Into this fray has stepped Amr Moussa, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, now shuttling between regional capitals to salvage the summit. Moussa was in Damascus on Sunday to try to defuse the diplomatic row. He met Lebanese officials on Monday and is due to leave for Jordan later in the day and travel to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to meet Qadhafi.

Moussa has warned that Shia agitation and “threats” against Libya undermine Arab unity, could wreck the summit and would damage Lebanon’s interests. A clandestine Lebanese Shia group has warned it will take unspecified action if Qadhafi’s visit goes ahead.

Moussa backs holding the meeting in Beirut but has hinted that Lebanon needs to tone down anti-Libyan rhetoric if he is to convince others to reject Libya’s request for a change of venue. Though most officials and diplomats predict the summit will go ahead in the end, they fear the bitter jockeying on the side issue of Libya threatens any hope of consensus on sanctions against Iraq, and a unified Arab stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.—Reuters