Riyadh: Saudi Arabia yesterday officially took over the rotating presidency of the Arab League.

Sudan, which chaired the 18th session, handed over charge at a meeting of senior Arab foreign ministry officials in Riyadh.

The league's finance and economy ministers will hold a meeting today to put final touches to the economic recommendations to be discussed by Arab leaders during their forthcoming summit in Riyadh.

King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz will inaugurate the 19th Arab Summit to be attended by Arab leaders and a number of foreign dignitaries, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The summit will also be attended by the UN General Assembly President Shaikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa.

Meanwhile, the UAE ambassador to Saudi Arabia Al Asri Bin Saeed Al Zahery told Gulf News that the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammad Hussain Al Sha'ali will lead the UAE delegation to the foreign ministers' meeting due to be held in Riyadh tomorrow.

He noted that this was due to the busy schedule of Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister.

In a related development, the permanent representatives of the Arab League member states held a meeting yesterday in Riyadh during which they completed the preparation of the Summit's agenda to be reviewed by foreign ministers tomorrow.