The Arab summit set to start here on Monday was postponed after foreign ministers failed to reach consensus over reform proposals,Tunisia announced on Saturday.

"It became clear that there was a variance of positions on...proposals related to fundamental issues on modernization,democratic reform,human rights,the rights of women and role of civil society,"the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Tunisia expressed its regret over the postponement of the summit,on which public opinion had pinned great hopes,especiallyin view of the circumstances,"the statement said.

But Tunisia reaffirmed its continued efforts to narrow differences among the countries and to prepare "the best circumstances"for a future summit.

The summit preparations had been in trouble for days because some of the 22Arab League members were reluctant to attend and Gulf states had decided to send low-level delegations to the annual meeting.No new date has been fixed.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iraq situation were tohave been among the top issues at the summit,along with political,economic and social reform inside Arab countries.

But preliminary meetings of foreign ministers that started hereon Friday failed to reach consensus on reform proposals submitted by five Arab governments --Egypt,Jordan,Yemen,Qatar and Tunisia,which had been consolidated into a single draft document.

The official TAP news agency disclosed in a comment that some Arab countries expressed disagreement on part of the rhetoric of the draft,such as the words "democracy"and "anti-terrorism."

The meetings took up the subject after the United States launched a "Greater Middle East Initiative"last month,which was widely criticized in the Arab world as a foreign intrusion which neglects the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iraq problem.

"Arab countries have been developing a homegrown plan for reform in the Arab world...This is an Arab matter that is not linked to what is said about a Greater Middle East,"Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said at a news conference on Saturday.

The settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iraqproblem serves the cause of stability in the Middle East region which in turn serves the requirement of development and the movement of reform,he stressed.

Israel's assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin has cast a shadow over preparations of the summit.The ragethroughout the Arab world over Yassin's death threatened to scuttle the summit even before its start.

However,Moussa said the Arab quest for peace was a strategic choice that would not change despite the lack of a peace partner in Israel.

"It is wrong to withdraw the Arab initiative,"he said."There is no amendment.The stance is solid,unshakable and we will not back off from it.But we don't see a partner in Israel that is ready for peace."