The Arab League has brought forward its annual summit to late February or early March, Greek Foreign Minister Mr George Papandreou said today.
The summit had been scheduled for late March in Bahrain, but there were calls to hold it soon due to the threat of a US-led war on Iraq.
Mr Papandreou, whose country now holds the European Union presidency and said the EU could join a possible Arab peace mission to Baghdad, was speaking after talks with officials in Lebanon, which now holds the Arab League summit presidency.
"There will be an Arab League foreign ministers meeting on February 15th and there will be an Arab League summit at the end of the month [February] or early March," Mr Papandreou told reporters after meeting Lebanon's president.
Arab League head Mr Amr Moussa, in Lebanon at the weekend to explore holding the summit early, said Arabs must meet as soon as possible over the threat of a US-led war to disarm Baghdad, which Washington accuses of having weapons of mass destruction.