Arab states to attend U.S. summit

CAIRO , Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations reached an agreement in Cairo Friday to attend a Middle East peace summit in Annapolis, Md., next week.

The Financial Times said the general consensus reached at the Arab League meeting appeared to ease the way for Syria to attend under other Arab auspices. Meanwhile, Syria said it would attend the meeting if the future of the Israeli-held Golan Heights was on the agenda.

Saudi Arabia's attendance was a major objective of the United States and Israel, the newspaper said, but there was still skepticism about whether the summit could achieve anything practical.

Key is whether Israel is willing to act on Arab demands such as halting settlement activity in Palestinian territories, the report said.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country was reluctant to attend the summit, and "if not for the Arab consensus we felt today, we would not have decided to go."

The newspaper said it was still unclear whether Washington had assured Arab countries that some issues would be on the agenda.