by Dana Halawi

BEIRUT, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Libya's absence from the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Beirut reduces the importance attached by Arab countries to the big event, said analysts.

"The three political powers in Lebanon showed different views with regard to Libya's participation in the summit and there are threats to prevent the Libyan delegation from entering the country," Samir Atallah, a Lebanese political analyst, told Xinhua.

All these sent negative signals to the Arab community, Atallah said.

Despite having confirmed their attendance at the summit in Beirut, many heads of state are now set to stay away.

The emirs of Qatar and Kuwait will not attend and Egypt is planning to send the prime minister rather than the president to the summit. The Palestinian president said he will be in New York during the summit.

The Tunisian economy minister confirmed that the foreign minister, not the president, will represent his country to attend the summit.

The United Arab Emirates Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansoori arrived in Beirut as the head of his country's delegation.

Mauritania and Somalia are the only countries sending heads of state to the summit.

Lebanon witnessed in the past few days fierce debates over Libya's participation in the summit which will take place over the weekend in Lebanon's capital Beirut.

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri expressed his regret over Libya's absence from the event.

However, Lebanon's Amal Movement, headed by House Speaker Nabih Berri, warned that the Libyan delegation will not be able to enter Lebanon because of its lack of cooperation with regard to the disappearance of the Shiite leader Musa al-Sadr during his visit to Libya in 1978.

Amal's supporters took down the Libyan flags from outside Biel Center, the venue of the upcoming summit, to protest against Libya's participation in the summit.

"Recent events against the participation of Libya in the summit reduced the level of representation of Arab countries to the event," Hilal Khashan, chair of the Political Studies Department at the American University of Beirut, told Xinhua.

The fact that most heads of states are not coming means they do not take the routine summit seriously, Khashan added.

Meanwhile, analysts also expressed their pessimism about the outcome of the summit.

Khashan believed issues expected to be tackled during the summit, such as stopping abuse against women, eliminating poverty and child abuse, are beyond the capacity of Arab states.

"It is way beyond their (Arab officials) ability ... To eliminate poverty, you have to invest in cultural transformation and empower people. This is the last thing Arab countries may do for the time being," he said.

Arabs have never implemented any decisions made at Arab summits, Atallah noted.