Doha  - Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa knows the new Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, well.

In the 1990s, Mussa was Egypt's foreign minister when Netanyahu was Israel's prime minister. And while the two men share a taste for fine Cuban cigars and other small indulgences, and though the countries they represented in the 1990s had been at peace for more than a decade, the two were often at odds on politics.

Little has changed today.

Doha - Arab and Latin American leaders gathered in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday to boost economic ties, but it was Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, long the darling of the Arab world for his defiance of the United States and his stances during Israel's wars in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, who grabbed the headlines.

Doha  - Leaders at an Arab League summit in Qatar on Monday were unanimous in their appeals for Arab unity - but that message was almost lost amid high-profile disputes between member states and the sensational appearance of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir despite an international warrant for his arrest.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa, delivering the summit's conclusions, affirmed the 22-member body's support for al-Bashir in his confrontation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Security Council.

Doha  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, speaking at an Arab League summit in Qatar on Monday, said that divisions among Arab states "harm Iraq," and called on Arab countries to play a greater role in rebuilding Iraq.

"We call for the adoption of a common Arab strategy based on a partnership of all the Arab family," al-Maliki said. "We are against the policy of alliances which runs against a unified Arab position ... and harms Iraq."

Doha - Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, in his closing remarks to the Arab League summit in Qatar on Monday, said Arab countries could not recognize Israel until it gave up its nuclear weapons and agreed to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.

"We cannot recognize Israel while they have nuclear weapons and we have modest weapons," Gaddafi said. "And we should insist on the return of the displaced. We cannot recognize Israel until they agree to these two demands."

Doha - Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa on Monday formally expressed the body's support for Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir in his confrontation with the International Criminal Court and the UN Security Council.

In his final remarks Monday night, al-Bashir thanked the assembled Arab leaders for their support against "the court's unjust decision."

"We will spare no effort in establishing peace and security in every corner of Sudan," al-Bashir added.