Foreign policy rifts beset Arabs ahead of summit

Rifts over foreign policy will likely make it harder for Arab leaders meeting at a summit this week to forge a common stand on regional challenges, including what many of them see as a threat from Iranian-U.S. rapprochement.
And while the Arab League meeting may agree more humanitarian action in response to Syria's war, any communique calling for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad will not reflect divergent views behind the scenes about the Syrian leader's handling of the conflict.
Syria and Iran are not the only points of contention at the annual summit, scheduled to take place in Kuwait on March 25-26.
The meeting follows an unprecedented row among members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) alliance of Gulf Arab states over support for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and a verbal spat between Iraq and Saudi Arabia over violence in Iraq's Anbar province.
"No summit has been without differences, but this one is full of differences. It is distinguished by the intensity of these disputes which puts an extra burden on the host country," said Ebtisam al-Qitbi, a professor of political science at the Emirates University in the United Arab Emirates.
"It will definitely make it more difficult to focus on coming out with adequate resolutions, not to mention an agreement on anything," she added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/23/us-arabs-summit-idUSBREA2M09U20140323