This week’s Arab summit in Egypt will be postponed following the death of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and consultations on the meeting will take place in the next few hours, an Arab League official said yesterday. Asked if the Aug. 3 summit would go ahead, an Arab League official told Reuters:

“We have to wait for consultations to take place in the coming few hours or less.” The official, who asked not to be named, said the summit, due to be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on tomorrow, will be “delayed or postponed”. “I don’t think we are talking about cancellation,” he added. King Fahd died yesterday and Crown Prince Abdullah, who has run day-to-day affairs in Saudi Arabia since 1995, was swiftly pronounced monarch of the world’s largest oil exporter. Crown Prince Abdullah has represented King Fahd at previous Arab summits for years.