Arab summit meeting faces factional split

Arab foreign ministers face a crisis over divisions in the Arab world that threaten a summit meeting due to start here Tuesday. Two days of talks by a seven-member ministerial committee ended in disarray with no agreement on whether the summit should be held at all. Syria fiercely argued that it should be delayed because rifts in Arab ranks made it futile. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Jordan said it had to be held, but Syria said if it went ahead it would break up the 22- member Arab League. A member of the Palestine Liberation Organization delegation said Syria and the PLO would not attend. Libya, South Yemen, and possibly Algeria may follow this lead, sources said.