Arab foreign ministers convened in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on Saturday to prepare for an Arab summit, due to open on Monday.
The meeting is expected to be dominated by the situation in Syria and Libya, which fell into civil war following popular uprisings against their autocratic leaders in 2011.
Addressing the meeting, Mauritanian Foreign Minister Isliko Ould Ahmed Ized Beih said the Arab summit in Nouakchott will “usher in a new phase of joint Arab cooperation”.
Mauritania hosts the two-day Arab summit for the first time since Nouakchott joined the Arab summit more than 40 years ago.
Sources within the Arab ministerial meeting said that participants had differed about Syria’s seat at the Arab summit.
While some countries called for allowing the Syrian opposition to take the seat, other countries opposed the move, according to the sources, which spoke anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media.
In 2011, the Arab foreign ministers decided to freeze Syria’s membership in the Arab League due to the regime crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
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