The 27th Arab League Summit held in Nouakchott, Mauritania came to a close on Tuesday after several state leaders, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Saudi King Salman Al-Saud, failed to attend. Egyptian media had reported earlier this week that Sisi’s absence at the summit was a result of an assassination plot against him but presidency spokesman Alaa Youssef denied these reports as “not true.” King Salman, meanwhile, was reportedly unable to attend due to health concerns. Despite the absence of many state leaders, the summit focused on a number of pressing regional issues, particularly the situations in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, who attended the summit in Sisi’s stead, denounced foreign intervention in the region and blamed it for the rise of terrorism, particularly the Islamic State. “Foreign intervention in Arab affairs is one of the major reasons for the current crisis, therefore we should work together to cement our domestic fronts in order to be able to stand up to these foreign interventions,” he said. The summit’s ending statement also refused the “external interference in Arab affairs by Iran.” Speaking at an…
