Algeria Summit: Several Leaders Attend for 1st Time, Guterres is Guest of Honor

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune receives Tunisian President Kais Saied at the airport (AFP)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune receives Tunisian President Kais Saied at the airport (AFP)
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Algeria Summit: Several Leaders Attend for 1st Time, Guterres is Guest of Honor

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune receives Tunisian President Kais Saied at the airport (AFP)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune receives Tunisian President Kais Saied at the airport (AFP)

The Algerian authorities did not announce the names of the leaders who would be attending this year's Arab Summit. However, it was reported that the event would bring together 15 Arab leaders, led by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Tunisian President Kais Saied, and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The 31st Arab Summit is the first for some leaders, including Saied, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and Iraqi President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid.

Algeria announced the arrival of Saied, Sisi, and the President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, to Houari Boumediene International Airport, and Tebboune received them.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Algiers as the guest of honor and was received by Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud was also in Algiers, while Ilham Aliyev, the Azeri President, who also chairs the Non-Aligned Movement, arrived to participate as a guest of honor at the Summit.

The Algerian President received the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, at the international airport.

On Monday, the Iraqi President arrived in Algiers and was received by Tebboune.

The Algerian President also received the President of the Transitional Sovereign Council of Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the President of the Yemen Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, and Senegalese President, Macky Sall, the current President of the African Union, in his capacity as the guest of honor of the Summit.

Furthermore, the Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs and Personal Representative of Oman, Asaad bin Tarik Al Said, and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived on Monday at Algiers' international airport and were received by Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Abdel Rahman.

Also among the attendees were Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister and Special Representative of the King, Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, and Chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohammad al-Menfi.

The President of Comoros, Othman Ghazali, was received by Tebboune at the airport.

On behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah chaired the Saudi delegation participating in the summit.

Meanwhile, Morocco announced that King Mohammed VI would not participate in the Summit.

The Representative of Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Crown Prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, arrived in Algiers to participate in the inaugural session.

Jordan's King Abdullah II will also be absent from the Summit, and Jordan News Agency announced on Sunday that Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah would head the country's delegation to Algeria.

UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid will represent his country.



Far-Right Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Visits Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

 Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
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Far-Right Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Visits Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

 Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP)

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday, his spokesperson said, prompting strong condemnation from Jordan and Palestinian group Hamas.

The firebrand politician was visiting the site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, in occupied east Jerusalem after returning to the Israeli government last month following the resumption of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Ben-Gvir had quit the cabinet in January in protest at the ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian territory.

Since the formation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government at the end of 2022, Ben-Gvir has made several trips to the Al-Aqsa compound, each time triggering international outcry.

In a statement, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemned Wednesday’s visit as a “storming” and “an unacceptable provocation.”

Hamas called it a “provocative and dangerous escalation,” saying the visit was “part of the ongoing genocide against our Palestinian people.”

“We call on our Palestinian people and our youth in the West Bank to escalate their confrontation... in defense of our land and our sanctities, foremost among them the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it said in a statement.

The site is Islam’s third-holiest and a symbol of Palestinian national identity.

Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, it is also Judaism’s holiest place, revered as the site of the second temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Under the status quo maintained by Israel, which has occupied east Jerusalem and its Old City since 1967, Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.

Ben-Gvir’s spokesperson told AFP the minister “went there because the site was opened (for non-Muslims) after 13 days,” during which access was reserved for Muslims for the festival of Eid al-Fitr and the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In recent years, growing numbers of Jewish ultranationalists have defied the rules, including Ben-Gvir, who publicly prayed there in 2023 and 2024.

The Israeli government has said repeatedly that it intends to uphold the status quo at the compound but Palestinian fears about its future have made it a flashpoint for violence.