Sultan Qabus bin Said of Oman Sunday praised Egypt's attendance at its first Arab summit in 10 years, saying welcoming the nation back into the Arab fold would be the "main task" of the summit in Morocco.
Qabus's comments were made at the end of a three-day visit to Cairo in which he and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak discussed the issues to be tackled at the summit, which begins Tuesday in Casablanca and is expected to last at least two days.King Hassan II of Morocco called for the emergency summit to seek Arab endorsement of recent peace moves by Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat that envisage the creation of a Palestinian state and, at the same time, accept Israel's right to exist.
"The main task of the emergency Arab summit is receiving Egypt back at the Arab summit establishment," Qabus said.
In Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan urged Arab leaders to turn their gathering into an "open summit" until solutions are found to the Palestinian issue and Lebanon's crisis.
Al Nahyan said the gathering of 22 Arab leaders should be extended "until all Arab issues, notably the Palestinian problem and the Lebanese crisis, are resolved," the Emirates news agency reported.
Officials expect the Arab heads of state to discuss how to end Lebanon's 14-year-old civil war and to reconcile differences between Syria and both Egypt and Iraq.
But while Al Nahyan blamed Arab and Moslem inaction for their failure to end the fighting in Lebanon, he said Israel, supported by "certain superpowers," was responsible for the "tragedy that has befallen the Palestinians."
Welcoming Egypt into Arab folds, Al Nahyan said Cairo with its political and cultural weight will be able to "contribute in its nationalist Arab role to resolve the various issues plaguing the Arab nation."