Grand Mufti Urges Arab Leaders to Attend Summit

Ahmed Hassoun, the grand mufti of Syria, has urged the leaders of Arab states to attend the upcoming Arab League Summit in Damascus.



Al-Arab newspaper in Qatar reported on March 17 that Hassoun issued a fatwa, or a religious edict, declaring that all leaders of the 22-member Arab League states must attend the summit, scheduled for March 29 and 30. He said failure to attend would be equivalent to committing a sin.



“Sending a representative instead of attending in person is not acceptable - unless there is a serious health issue - because the Arab nation is in dire need of a meeting of high-level leaders,” Hassoun said in his fatwa.



[It has been reported that several Arab heads of state, including King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, might boycott the summit because of strained relations with Syria over Lebanon policies. The Syrian press this week urged Arab leaders to attend.]



The mufti called for Arab leaders to resolve their differences and show unity on Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and other crisis areas.