Iraq's President Jalal Talabani was to make his first foray onto the world stage yesterday at a summit here of South American and Arab nations that many of his fellow Arab leaders have shunned.
Talabani is one of only five of the 22 members of the Arab League to be represented by a head of state at the two-day summit aimed at bringing the two distant regions closer together.
Arab diplomatic sources in Brasilia said the US had pressured several countries to stay away after the hosts turned down a request by Washington for observer status at the summit.
But Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas and the heads of state from Algeria, Djibouti and Qatar will also be present to thank Brazil's socialist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for holding the summit.
The Brazilian leader has already hinted at his disappointment at the Arab turnout.
"The king of Jordan or the crown prince of Saudi Arabia go to Europe or the United States to do business. They can also do it here, we have many things that to offer to them," Lula said last week in an interview with French reporters.
"I would have liked to see greater Arab participation at the summit," Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa acknowledged. But he insisted the summit would become a regular event.
The US is closely watching the summit as the final declaration includes a clause, critical of Israel, that will call for the dismantling of all Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to a draft copy obtained by reporters.
Israel is to pull out from the Gaza Strip and part of West Bank this year.
Israel is said to be concerned by the summit statement but Mussa said on Monday: "Their worries don't concern me."
Participants are also expected to express opposition to Washington's sanctions against Syria and stress "the right for states and peoples to resist foreign occupation" and the need to "respect Iraq's territorial unity, independence and sovereignty."
Trade issues will also be tackled, although Argentina has aired reservations about Lula's push for increased south-south exchanges, noting that it could come at the expense of other markets.
Arab countries hope that South America will back Egypt's demands for a permanent seat in any reformed UN Security Council. Brazil, in turn, wants Arab support.
But Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, whose country is the most populated in the region, has delegated Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit to represent him at the summit.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, and Morocco's King Mohammed VI, who was received with great pomp in Brasilia last year, have both turned down the invitation.
Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi are also shunning the summit, along with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Committees of experts from the two sides will be set up in a bid to improve trade between the two regions, officials said.
Brazilian diplomats say they hope negotiations will move forward during the summit on a proposed US$450 million Libyan investment in irrigation projects for Brazil's northeastern Bahia state.
Two-way trade between Brazil and Arab countries -- with exports and imports balanced -- totaled US$8.1 billion last year -- a near 50 percent increase over 2003.
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