Arab leaders on Monday sought to reschedule a summit that was unilaterally postponed by host country Tunisia amid divisions over US calls for political and economic reforms in the Middle East.
Morocco announced that Arab foreign ministers planned to meet in Cairo in "the next few weeks" to study the possibility of holding a new summit, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Arab leaders could meet within three weeks.
Expressing "astonishment and regret" over Tunisia's decision, Egypt offered on Sunday to host the meeting that had been due to open on Monday. Other Arab states also expressed surprise at Tunisia's decision.
Tunisia said it had indefinitely postponed the summit because of disagreements at a ministerial meeting in Tunis on Saturday over democratic reforms demanded by the United States. But Mubarak said that unspecified problems that emerged at the meetings could be solved.
Some delegates said Tunis was unhappy that some Arab leaders did not plan to attend and wanted to prove its democratic credentials to Washington.
Analysts say Egypt, home to the Arab League headquarters, is keen to revive the summit for fear that the leaders' failure to meet could undermine the 22-member body and with it Egypt's diplomatic influence in the region.
Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) quoted Mubarak as saying in remarks late on Sunday he thought the summit could be held soon. "I think there is no problem in it being held in the next two to three weeks," he said.
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