Arab leaders pose for the camera, ahead of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis, Tunisia March 31, 2019, in this handout picture courtesy of the Egyptian Presidency.
Arab heads of state, long divided by regional rivalries, are expected to unite at a summit on Sunday local time to oppose a USA decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the disputed territory of the Golan Heights.
Iraq's President Barham Salih, left, walks next of his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi, right, as they review the honor guard upon his arrival at Tunis-Carthage worldwide airport to attend the Arab Summit, in Tunis, Tunisia, Saturday, March 30, 2019.
A Tunisian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Qatari leader had walked out during the speech of League chief Aboul Gheit, and "has left Tunisia".
Arab leaders who have been grappling with a bitter Gulf Arab dispute, splits over Iran's regional influence, the war in Yemen and unrest in Algeria and Sudan sought common ground after Washington recognized Israel's sovereignty over the Golan.
(L to R) Iraqi President Barham Saleh, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, and Lebanese President Michel Aoun, pose together for the group photo with other Arab leaders.
The readmission of Syria back into the League, from which it was suspended from in 2011 following President Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, was expected to be on the summit's agenda.
Only 13 Arab leaders are attending the one-day summit.
The worldwide community, including the United States, largely shared that position until Trump upended decades of US policy by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem past year and recognizing Israel's 1981 annexation of the Golan earlier this month.
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President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last week recognising the Golan Heights as part of Israel, which annexed the area in 1981 after capturing it from Syria in 1967.
Calling the meeting "the summit of resolve and solidarity", Host-country Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi decried "regional and global interventions" in Arab affairs.
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said Saturday that Arab ministers had voiced support in a preparatory meeting for a declaration that Trump's Golan move violates the U.N. Charter, which prohibits acquiring territories by force.
In a unusual turn of events, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was reported to have left the summit abruptly.
However Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani left suddenly without giving his scheduled address.
Syria's seat at the summit was vacant.
The Tunis summit will be the first time the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar attend the same gathering since 2017 when Riyadh and its allies imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha. No reason was given for his departure.
He called for a prompt move within the framework of the Geneva Peace Talks to reach peace in Syria.
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