Tunisians protest against 30th Arab Summit

By Saif al-Din Mahjoub

TUNIS (AA) - Dozens of Tunisians protested in the Tunisian capital Tunis against the Arab summit being held on Sunday.

Earlier on Sunday, the 30th Arab Summit kicked off in Tunis amid absence of almost half of the Arab leaders.

The demonstration -- called by Tunisian Network to Address Normalization, a non-governmental organization -- saw banners reading "no normalization deals on Tunisian territory" and "the liberation of Palestine is a duty of the nation".

The protesters were reportedly trying to stage their protest close to the building, where the Arab Summit was convened, before the Tunisian security forces banned them.

Ahmed al-Kahlawi, chairman of the Tunisian Organization for the Support of the Arab Resistance, told Anadolu Agency that their move comes as "such summits are ways for surrender and normalization."

He went on to say that this summit came to normalize with Israel.

Only 13 Arab leaders are attending the one-day summit, including Qatar's emir Tamim bin Hamad and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Other attending leaders include Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad of Kuwait and King Abdullah II of Jordan as well as the leaders of Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, Mauritania and Djibouti.

Libya is also represented by the head of the country's presidential council Fayez al-Sarraj.

Meanwhile, eight leaders are absent from the summit; most notably Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Algeria's Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said and Moroccan King Mohammed VI.

War-torn Syria is not represented by any official at the summit as the country's Arab League membership has been frozen since 2011.

The summit’s agenda is expected to tackle recent Israeli escalations against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip; ongoing crises in Libya, Yemen and Sudan; alleged Iranian interference in Arab affairs; and the fight against terrorism.