Syrian leader attends Arab summit in Riyadh

11/03/2009 21:23 DAMASCUS, March 11 (RIA Novosti) - The leaders of Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait met in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Wednesday in what Arab media called an attempt to return Syria to the fold and focus on regional problems.

Arab media said the aim of the summit was to overcome differences between Damascus and the West's main allies in the Middle East - Riyadh and Cairo - and try to develop common positions on Middle East problems ahead of an Arab summit in Qatar later this month.

King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak of Egypt have said that Iran's policies are one of the key destabilizing factors in the region and that Syria's close relations with Tehran over the last three decades have been detrimental to Arab interests.

Participants of the Riyadh summit are also set to try to overcome disagreements on policy towards Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinians.