Arab countries, stunned by a Tunisian decision to postpone a scheduled Arab summit on late Saturday, expressed their regret and anger and tried to coordinate their stance.

Egypt on Sunday offered to host an Arab summit as soon as possible and the offer was accepted by the 22-member Arab League and supported by Yemen, Jordan and some other member states.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Sunday expressed "astonishment and regret" at the Tunisian decision, which came after Arab countries failed to iron out their differences over political reforms during an Arab foreign ministerial meeting held in Tunis on March 26-27.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruk al-Shareh said Sunday that his country regretted Tunisia's decision to postpone the Arab summit which is scheduled to start on Monday and Tuesday, saying Arab countries should grasp the opportunity to deal with the challenges facing the Arab nation.

Palestinian Minister for Negotiations Affairs Saeb Erekat expressed shock and anger Sunday after the sudden postponement of the annual Arab League summit.

"After it has been announced that the summit was postponed, there is no need for the Arab League even to be existed," Erekat told reporters.

The postponement "is happening for the first time in the Arab history of holding Arab summits," he said, adding that the Palestinian National Authority was disappointed at the news.

"The outcomes of such a postponement would be dangerous," Erekat said. "This indicates and proves the severe deterioration of the Arab political situation."

"The Israeli government would catch the opportunity to cancel all the international legitimacy resolutions related to the Arab- Israeli conflict," he warned.

"We are afraid that this would encourage Israel to impose facts on the ground," Erekat said. "This postponement is weird, and the results after the postponement would be dangerous and negative."

Abdel Aziz Ranteesi, new leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in Gaza Strip, accused the Arab leaders of being weak after the scheduled Arab Summit was postponed until a further notice.

After a Hamas rally at Gaza's Islamic University, Ranteesi told reporters that the postponement of the Tunis summit was a sign of division and weakness among Arab nations.

Arab leaders had hoped to use the conference to announce a peace initiative with Israel and discuss political reform.

However, last week's assassination of Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin by an Israeli airstrike provoked widespread anger in the Arab world, making it politically risky for some states to pursue a peace initiative with Israel.

"There is a contradiction among the positions of Arab leaders," Ranteesi said.

He also said the Arab world is letting down the Palestinians, adding "I want to tell the Arab leaders, you will be asked by God ... about the blood of Sheik Ahmed Yassin."

For his part, Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohamed Ben Aissa said Sunday that he had contacted Arab League chief Amr Moussa on arranging an emergency foreign ministerial meeting in two weeks.

"We were astonished by the postponement of the summit, but we understand Tunisia's decision and efforts," he told Moroccan TV 2 before departure for home from Tunis.

Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah Sunday regretted that the Arab summit had been postponed and called for convening the meeting as soon as possible, the official KUNA news agency reported.

"We regret that the summit has been postponed ... We hope a date will be set for the summit at the earliest possible time," Sheikh Sabah was quoted as saying.

An Egyptian diplomat told Xinhua that the postponement disappointed the Arab public since most of the Arabs pin great hope on the summit to take strong decisions concerning dangers and threats facing the Arab world.

Sayed Eliwa, professor at Helwan University in Cairo, said it is a deep failure and the Arab people will probably pay a dear price for it.

"There is deep misunderstanding among Arab countries. Each state concentrates on its individual interests while disregarding the whole," Eliwa told Xinhua by telephone.

"Though Arab countries have common religion, culture and language, it is regrettable that we have no common vision for the future like the European Union," he said.

Meanwhile, President Mubarak on Sunday discussed the latest

developments over phone with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz respectively to coordinate their stance.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, who has been in Tunisia to attend Arab foreign ministers' meeting on March 26-27, is due in Cairo for talks with Mubarak over the postponement, Egypt's MENA news agency reported.

"Faisal will meet with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Maher on an Egyptian offer to hold the summit at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo," MENA said.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two heavyweights in the Arab world, are keeping constant contact on pressing regional issues

On the other hand, Tunisia said Sunday it retains the right to host an Arab summit despite its delay, a Foreign Ministry official said in Tunis on Sunday.

"The (delay) decision made by Tunisia is serious and responsible, and the aim of the decision is to achieve tangible results," said Hatim Ben Salim, state secretary of the ministry for Maghreb and African affairs.

"The postponement does not mean cancellation," he said.

AL chief Moussa warned Saturday night that the decision to postpone the summit would have a grave impact on collective Arab action.

The Tunisian government said Sunday it was postponing the summit indefinitely because Arab foreign ministers refused to accept its amendments to a plan on Arab political reform.

The delayed Arab summit, the first of its kind since the US-led war on Iraq, was scheduled to discuss Arab-Israeli conflict, the Iraqi issue and Arab reforms in a bid to challenge the US administration's Greater Middle East Initiative, which aimed at pushing up political and economic reforms in the region.