Syria Tops Agenda at Iraq Arab Summit

After decades at the center of the Arab world, Syria now sits in the dock as regional leaders meet in Baghdad this week over how to end President Bashar al-Assad's bloody crackdown on a popular uprising.

But wide disparities among Arab chiefs' positions may hamper any hope of an aggressive resolution from the meeting, the first to be held in Iraq in more than 20 years and taking place under heavy security after deadly bombings just a week ago.

Crucially, the Arab League will have to reconcile a proposal by Gulf countries to arm opponents of Assad with calls from states such as Iraq for a political resolution to the year-long crackdown monitors say has left more than 9,100 dead.

"There is a mounting crisis in Syria, there is daily killing, there is daily bloodshed, there is a stalemate... in the political solution, what should be done?" Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters in Baghdad.

Zebari said there "will be a resolution definitely on Syria," but admitted that he did not "think there will be a call on Bashar to step aside."

Deputy National Security Adviser Safa Hussein, meanwhile, noted Syria was "not an easy issue" because "there is division internationally and there is a division within the Arab world."

"I don't think we should expect miracles to happen in the summit," he said.

Iraqi authorities have insisted that the summit will focus on structural reform of the Arab League in an effort to make the organization more active, but Syria remains in the limelight, rocked by ongoing protests and deadly clashes, U.S. and European sanctions and a U.N. human rights probe.

Syrian forces bombarded a rebel neighborhood of Homs for a seventh straight day on Monday, monitors said, as Russia, whose President Dmitry Medvedev discussed the crisis with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, warned Damascus it must act to avoid civil war.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi has told pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, however, that it was unlikely the meeting in Iraq would call for Assad to step down.

But while events in Syria will be discussed, the crushing of protests in Bahrain is not on the agenda, Zebari confirmed, though he admitted the suppression last year of Shiite-led pro-democracy rallies in Bahrain was a concern.

The summit also marks a re-emergence of Iraq, hosting its first Arab League meeting since Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which triggered U.N. sanctions and was eventually followed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

"It is a big event, it is the most important event for Iraq, to host the Arab summit," Zebari said, calling it a "turning point for Iraq."

"It is a recognition of the new Iraq that has emerged since 2003."

He added: "I think we've made a major major leap forward."

More than 100,000 members of the security forces are providing security in the capital, according to the Baghdad Operations Command, and Iraq has spent upwards of $500 million to refurbish major hotels and summit venues.

But despite the dramatically tighter security measures, al-Qaida's front group in Iraq managed to carry out a wave of nationwide attacks on March 20 that cost the lives of 50 people.

Among the attacks was a car bomb that exploded in a car park directly opposite the foreign ministry, killing three people.

Iraq expects at least 10 Arab leaders to attend the summit, but while some countries such as Lebanon have announced top-level representation, the majority of the bloc's 22 members have been tight-lipped over who will attend.

Zebari on Monday telephoned his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to encourage their participation at the "highest levels," Iraq's foreign ministry said.

The summit was originally due to be held in Baghdad a year ago but was delayed by regional turmoil resulting from the Arab Spring uprisings, as well as concerns over violence in Iraq.

As a result of the revolts, many familiar faces will not attend: since the beginning of last year, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi has been killed, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak forced to step down, Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh has handed power to his deputy and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia has fled to Saudi Arabia.

In addition, League-member Sudan lost a quarter of its territory last year after South Sudan voted overwhelmingly to secede in an independence referendum.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and genocide, will head his country's delegation, but Zebari said he will not be arrested.

Baghdad itself will be represented by new faces, with a Shiite-led and Kurdish-backed government taking center stage in the place of Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime.

And for the first time, the head of state of a country hosting an Arab League summit is a Kurd -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.