KHARTOUM, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Arab leaders on Tuesday kicked off the 18th Arab League summit in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, with the Iraq issue, the situation on the Palestinian territories and the Darfur conflict topping the agenda.

Arab leaders pose for the media ahead of the opening session of an Arab summit in Khartoum March 28. (Xinhua/AFP)

    The conference, which started at 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) at the Friendship Hall sitting on the west bank of Blue Nile, brought together 10 heads of state of the 22-member pan-Arab bloc.

    Some key Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, stayed away from the summit.

    A number of guests, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also attended Tuesday's meeting and would deliver speeches at the opening session.

    Arab leaders were expected to discuss the draft resolutions on a host of pressing issues, namely, the Palestinian and Iraqi issues as well as the Darfur conflict, submitted by foreign ministers who just concluded on Sunday a two-day preparatory meeting.

    In addition, the summit was also dedicated to the reforms of the Arab League, including the establishment of a security council and reforms on the voting mechanism. Enditem