Arab Disunity in Wake of Gulf War Marks Islamic Summit

Delegates to an Islamic summit Monday assailed Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait last year, dramatizing the depth of Arab divisions 10 months after the Persian Gulf War.

Representatives to the summit adopted a resolution demanding that U.N. economic sanctions on Iraq be maintained and charging that Baghdad still covets Kuwaiti territory.

Kuwait’s emir, Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah, opened the summit by accusing Iraq of breaking every principle that bound the 45-member Organization of the Islamic Conference together.

All but a handful of Arab leaders have stayed away from the summit to avoid meeting Gulf War foes with whom they are not yet ready to be reconciled. The heads of state of most countries that fought against Iraq, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria, all avoided the summit.

Iraq has boycotted the event but the leaders of two of its supporters--Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization and King Hussein of Jordan--are participating.

Against this background of Arab bitterness, Iran has been campaigning vigorously for new friends as it emerges from international isolation. Strengthened by the defeat of its old enemies in Iraq, Iran is attending its first Islamic summit since 1979.

Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Iranian president, urged those in attendance to show unity in solving the issue of Palestine and other problems facing Muslims. Rafsanjani’s delegation at the meeting is the largest, numbering 300.