RIYADH, March 30: Saudi Arabia has launched a series of consultations with other Arab countries, mainly Egypt and Syria, to convene the Arab summit called off by host country Tunisia, preferably by end-April.

On Saturday night, Tunisia called off the summit, which had been due to open on Monday. It cited differences over political reform. Egypt, where the Arab League is based, promptly offered to serve as alternative host, but Tunisia was equally quick to counter Cairo's attempts to seize the initiative, insisting on its right as host of the meeting whenever it is held.

Crown Prince and Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz will make a stopover in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday, en route to an official visit to Austria, to swap views on the summit with President Hosni Mubarak, a Saudi official said.

The talks are part of Riyadh's efforts to hammer out a pan-Arab agreement on the date and venue of the summit, the official said. Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al Shara flew into Riyadh from Egypt on Tuesday afternoon for a brief visit that will also focus on the summit. He went straight to see Crown Prince Abdullah.

The proposed summit was also at the centre of talks between Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal and President Mubarak in Cairo on Monday. Saudi officials have made clear that Riyadh wants a pan-Arab agreement, rather than an intra-Arab row, over the venue and date of the summit, a point emphasized by Prince Abdullah during a cabinet session on Monday.

Arab states are "most in need to look forward, rather than backward, and consult among each other to bring about the suitable conditions to hold a well-prepared Arab summit as soon as possible," he told the cabinet.

Saudi Arabia, which would like to see the summit taking place before the end of April, believes consultations are particularly needed between Egypt and Tunisia, a Saudi official said.

However, an Arab diplomatic source in Riyadh said on Wednesday Tunisia's "unilateral" scrapping of the summit made most Arab countries prefer to hold it in Cairo.

Prince Abdullah had not planned to go to Tunis. Riyadh, which formulated a joint reform plan with Cairo and Damascus, decided to lower its representation at the summit apparently due to what it perceived as an abundance of proposals on internal reform, restructuring of the Arab League and the Arab-Israeli conflict. -AFP