2009 Arab League summit

Arab League 21st summit
Host country	Mauritania
Date	30–31 March 2009
Cities	Doha
Follows	2010 Arab League summit
Precedes	2008 Arab League summit

The 2009 Arab League summit was held in Doha, Qatar on March 30, 2009. The Arab League defied the International Criminal Court by giving a "warm welcome" to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, whom the Court placed a warrant on for war crimes in the Darfur genocide.^[1]

Reactions

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak boycotted the summit amid differences with Qatar stemming from the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.^[2] Other Arab countries like Saudi Arabia were also hesitant to come to the summit if Iran or Hamas were in attendance (neither of the parties came while the Saudis did).

Incidents

After Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani speech, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi called King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia a liar, accusing him of "bringing the Americans to occupy Iraq" and of being "made by Britain and protected by the US.", while stating: "I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam (leader) of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level".^[3][4] He then invited the King to visit him to solve the issues between the two.^[5]

References

1. Murphy, Brian (30 March 2009). "Sudan's Leader Arrives in Qatar". The Washington Post.
2. Hu Dandan and Liao Zhenyun. "What is behind Egyptian President Mubarak's absence from Arab Summit?". Xinhua. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
3. Adel Darwish (30 March 2009). "Muammar Gaddafi accuses Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah of lying at Arab summit". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
4. "Libya's Gadhafi storms out of Arab summit". NDTV (Associated Press). 30 March 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
5. "Libya's Kadhafi hurls apologies to Saudi king". Archived from the original on June 24, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-21.