BEIRUT (AP) — An Arab economic development summit that Lebanon is hosting this weekend has been marred by controversy days before delegates arrive. The turmoil and chaos is nothing new to Lebanon, a tiny country fragmented along political and sectarian fault lines. On Monday, organizers of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit, or AESD, held a press conference, announcing summit preparations were in place. At the heart of Lebanon’s political deadlock are divisions between its two opposing pro and anti-Syrian camps. “It is not Lebanon who issues the invitations, Lebanon abides by the decisions of the Arab League,” Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil responded in a tweet.

Source: Egypt Independent January 15, 2019 14:48 UTC