High on the agenda at the next month’s summit in Syria will be developments in Lebanon, which has been without a president since November amid feuding between a Western-backed majority and the Iranian and Syrian-backed opposition.
The two ruling monarchs met in Riyadh and agreed it was "important that the Lebanese people choose a president through consensus and that the Arab League plan to solve the Lebanese crisis was successful," the Jordanian official, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
The Arab League plan calls for the election of army chief General Michel Sleiman as consensus president, the formation of a national unity government in which no single party has veto power, and a new electoral law.
Despite agreement on Sleiman, deadlocked Lebanese politicians have failed to agree on power-sharing in a future government.
Arab analysts and media reports have suggested that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries may boycott the Damascus summit or send low-level delegates.
Oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which hosted the annual summit in 2007, has not yet received a formal invitation from Syria to attend the March 29-30 forum amid tensions between the two countries over Lebanon’s presidential crisis.
The Jordanian king also briefed his Saudi counterpart on his planned meeting with US President George W. Bush at the White House on March 4 for talks expected to centre on Middle East peace efforts.
