Iraq left its seat empty at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Iraq on Wednesday, carrying out its threat to boycott the Arab League event in protest at remarks by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Eyewitnesses and diplomatic sources had earlier said Raad al-Alousi, Iraq's delegate to the Cairo-based league, did attend the session and observed the proceedings from the sidelines. But Alousi and a senior Arab League official, Hesham Youssef, said neither the delegate nor any member of his staff were present. "None of us went," Alousi told Reuters.
The Iraqi government said on Tuesday it would boycott the meeting because of Mubarak's assertion that Shia Arabs were more loyal to Iran than to their own countries.
The diplomatic sources said Alousi did not speak and left the room on several occasions to consult by telephone with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari.
Officials at the session were from Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, Algeria, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as league Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
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