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There is tension in the air. That is between key players in the Arab world. Lebanon might appear as the central point of contention between Syria on one hand and Saudi Arabia and Egypt on the other. But the issue has in fact more to it than the long-stalled presidential elections in Lebanon, for which some Arab countries blame Syria and its Lebanese allies.
The tension is threatening to sabotage the upcoming Arab summit, scheduled to be held in Damascus on March 29, the first in Syrian history.
The summit is usually the place where Arab states discuss, and sometimes manage to solve, their differences. This time the summit itself became the centre of dispute. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are said to be thinking of shunning the meeting unless Syria "uses its influence in Lebanon" to facilitate the election of General Michel Sulaiman as president.
But the tension, according to different sources - some official and others semi-official - revolves around the growing Iranian influence in the Arab region.
Iran is obviously flexing its muscles in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, through its strong ties with powerful parties, including Hamas and Hezbollah. At a time when the Arab world is trying to achieve a peaceful, and as close to just as possible, settlement to the Palestinian question, the Iranian influence is giving power to those accused of "radicalising the Arab street". The Israeli war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 is an example.
Through its 30-year-old "strategic alliance" with Iran, Syria is being blamed, mainly by Riyadh and Cairo, of helping Tehran exercise that influence, henceforth, threatening Arab national security and leading to a backlash that is mainly sectarian.
But that is also no reason to shun Syria or the summit. Isolating Syria will only deepen the tension and push that Arab country further away. The summit should be held and used to address those contention points frankly. That is what summits are for.
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