Saudi Arabia will not send King Abdullah or Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal to the forthcoming Arab summit in Damascus, Riyadh's ambassador to the Arab League Ahmad Qattan told AFP on Monday.

Qattan, speaking on the margins of a preparatory meeting, said he would head his country's delegation, AFP reported.

The decision comes a week after Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal expressed his hope that the Arab Summit could solve “the issue of Lebanon” and warned against the negative impact of this crisis on the unity of Lebanon and further strains Riyadh-Damascus debates over the deep political crisis in Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have accused Syria of blocking the election of a new president in Lebanon, while Syria's official press accused the United States of responsibility for the Lebanon crisis and accused the US of trying to torpedo the summit.

Saudi Arabia’s decision to send a low-level representative to the Arab Summit, set to be held March 29-30 in Damascus, is paralleled by Lebanon’s inability to decide whether to boycott or attend the Damascus Summit. Should the country decide to participate, disagreement over the level of representation in the absence of a president and debates over the Siniora cabinet’s legitimacy.

The cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has been deemed illegitimate and unconstitutional by members of the opposition, including Hezbollah, the Amal movement, and the Free Patriotic Movement, headed by General Michel Aoun, since November 2006 when six opposition ministers, mainly Hezbollah and Amal-aligned, resigned from their positions.

-NOW Staff