Doha - Leaders from the Arab world were meeting in Qatar on Monday for the 21st regular Arab League Summit where the issue of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was expected to dominate.

Al-Bashir, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity, was among the first to arrive in the Qatari capital Doha.

In all, some 17 out of the 22 Arab leaders and among others United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon were due to participate in discussion on a range of issues.

The situation in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian reconciliation efforts, inter-Arab reactions, Syria's reconciliation with Lebanon and the United States' outreach to Syria were among the issues.

The presence of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is seen as a further sign of his country's re-integration into the Arab world.

Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak was however not expected to attend. There was widespread speculation that would boycott the gathering to object to reports by the Doha-based the al-Jazeera television channel that negatively portrayed Egypt during the Gaza war and accused Cairo of doing little to help Palestinians.

An Egyptian delegation was however sent to the summit.

The gathering follows some two months after a summit in Kuwait where Saudi Arabia initiated an Arab reconciliation effort aimed at reaching out to Syria.

Under the ICC's charter, nations which have ratified the treaty are obligated to arrest and turn over for trial any person who is the subject of an ICC warrant.

Al-Bashir arrived in Doha on Sunday, in advance of the summit and on the fourth trip abroad since the International Criminal Court in the Hague issued the warrant for his arrest on March 4.

He has been to Eritrea, Egypt and Libya - countries, which like Qatar are not signatories to the Rome Statute that established the ICC and are therefore not bound to act on the warrant.

During weekend meetings in Qatar, Sudan reportedly proposed that an emergency Arab Summit be held in Sudan as a show of Arab solidarity.

Qatar had indicated it would invite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran - which has strong ties with Syria - as an observer, but Saudi Arabia and Egypt objected, saying that they did not want the interference of non-Arab forces in the summit. Syria has strong ties with Iran. (dpa)