Saudi Arabia yesterday said it would be sending low-level representation to this week's Arab League summit in Damascus, confirming fears that an Arab rift over Lebanon would undermine the annual meeting.

The Saudi permanent representative at the Arab League said he would represent his country at the summit, meaning that influential King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal would be staying away.

Saudi Arabia blames Syria for the failure of Damascus-allied Lebanese opposition forces to reach a deal with the Lebanese government and end political deadlock which has prevented the election of a new President for four months.

In Beirut, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Syrian-backed opposition leader, announced the 17th delay in the presidential vote, postponing the election from today to April 22.

The delay means that there will be no Lebanese President to attend the March 29-30 Arab summit. Lebanon's political crisis was expected to hit the level of turnout at summit.

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