Beirut: The Lebanese cabinet has decided that the country, which is facing a protracted presidential crisis, will not be represented at this week's Arab summit in Damascus, a cabinet minister said.

"The Council of Ministers has decided yesterday against Lebanon's participation in the Arab summit scheduled for March 29 in Damascus," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after the cabinet meeting.

"This is a regrettable precedent that was imposed upon us," he added, accusing Syria of being directly responsible for the current stand-off between the pro- and anti-Syrian camps and of causing the presidential vacuum.

"By not taking part in the summit, Lebanon wanted to reaffirm that it should be represented by its head of state at such a meeting and that the Lebanese were unwilling to accept the status quo," Aridi said.

While adding that the decision did not mean cutting off ties with Syria, he also invited Arab states to assist the rebuilding of Lebanese-Syrian relations on healthy grounds.

Earlier, the cabinet did not rule out the possibility that Lebanon could send a message to be read at the two-day summit.

Syria, which held sway in Lebanese affairs for decades before it was forced to withdraw its troops from the country in 2005,has been accused of standing in the way of electing a new president.

Regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt have blamed it for obstructing the election, and leaders of both countries are boycotting the summit.
Source : PTI