Syria tops agenda at 24th Arab League Summit in Doha

Arab foreign ministers have failed to reach consensus over Syria's seat at the summit The Syrian conflict is expected to dominate proceedings as Arab leaders gather for the 24th Arab League Summit in the Qatari capital Doha. Ahead of Tuesday's opening session, a senior official told AFP that the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) would take the country’s vacant seat at the summit.
"The opposition has been invited to the Arab summit and will occupy Syria's seat at the Arab League," he said.
The regional organisation is yet to make an official decision on offering the opposition a seat at the summit, after the resignation of opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib, and rebel Free Syrian Army's (FSA) rejection of Ghassan Hitto as the opposition's newly-elected interim prime minister.
Qatari officials are reportedly keen on giving the coalition a platform in Doha, but Arab ministers failed to reach an agreement in the summit's Preparatory Ministerial Meeting on Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, the Syrian National Coalition's presidential office rejected al-Khatib's resignation and urged him to continue as head of the coalition. An opposition source in Doha said: "Khatib does not want other countries to interfere in the affairs of the opposition, especially the likes of Qatar," adding that the leader also had reservations about the election of Hitto, due to his close links with Muslim Brotherhood.
Syrian opposition activist Fawaz Tello also blamed Qatar and Muslim Brotherhood for al-Khatib's resignation. "Qatar and [Muslim] Brotherhood pushed Khatib to resign," he said, adding, "they saw Khatib gaining popularity within Syria, but were concerned because he has an independent vision."
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani said that he regretted al-Khatib's decision and urged him to reconsider.
Al-Thani told reporters that he would welcome the Syrian opposition's participation in the summit, and that he is looking forward to meeting al-Khatib and Hitto.
Iraq is among a handful of Arab nations who are reluctant to grant the Syrian opposition a seat at the summit. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that Baghdad is opposed to the idea because of "preliminary" reasons.
News of al-Khatib's resignation on Sunday afternoon came as Arab foreign ministers were involved in lengthy discussions over the issue of Syria's vacant seat.
Officials at Arab League, which had already suspended President Bashar al-Assad's membership and recognised the coalition as the legitimate representative of the people of Syria, turned to convince al-Khatib to reverse his decision and represent Syrians at the conference.
Observers feel that the Doha summit may see the member states approve proposals which would completely exclude Assad from the pan-Arab bloc.
Under the plans, the nine Arab countries that still have diplomatic relations with the Assad regime would be told to withdraw their ambassadors from Syria and expel Assad's ambassadors from their countries.
According to al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, the sensitive nature of the proposals means they will be discussed behind closed-doors in Doha.
At the summit's Preparatory Ministerial Meeting on Sunday, Arab foreign ministers sought agreement on the final itinerary ahead of the opening session on Tuesday morning.
On Monday morning, there were further talks between Arab ministers about topics on the agenda, including the restructuring of Arab League's institutions, an issue which has divided member states. Some countries feel that the league must represent the people and not governments, whilst others believe that the pan-Arab organisation is functioning well at the intra governmental level.
Arab foreign minister also discussed the Palestinian issue, the developments in Syria, the draft resolutions approved in last month's session in Cairo, Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi's final report, and the implementation of resolutions adopted during the 23rd Arab League Summit in Baghdad last year. The meeting ended with Qatari FM al-Thani being handed chairmanship of the summit by his Iraqi counterpart Zebari.
Al-Thani said that the preparatory meeting is important because it allows ministers to set the agenda before the summit gets underway, and limit the two-day discussion to the important topics such as the issue of Palestine and the situation in Syria.