Half of Arab leaders absent from Tunisia summit

ISTANBUL

Around half of Arab leaders will not take part in the annual Arab summit, due to open in the Tunisian capital on Sunday.

According to information compiled by Anadolu Agency, only 13 Arab leaders will attend the one-day summit, including Saudi King Salman, Qatar's emir Tamim bin Hamad and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Other attending leaders include Tunisia's Beji Caid Essebsi, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad of Kuwait and King Abdullah II of Jordan as well as the leaders of Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, Mauritania and Djibouti.

Libya will be represented by the head of the country's presidential council Fayez al-Sarraj.

Meanwhile, eight leaders will be absent from the summit; most notably Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Algeria's Abdelaziz Bouteflika,

Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said and Moroccan King Mohammed VI.

War-torn Syria will not be represented by any official at the summit as the country's Arab League membership has been frozen since 2011.

The summit’s agenda is expected also to tackle recent Israeli escalations against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip; ongoing crises in Libya, Yemen and Sudan; alleged Iranian interference in Arab affairs; and the fight against terrorism.