Furious exchange of insults at summit underlines lack of unity among Arabs

Welcome to Arab unity. The Iraqi delegate, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, called a senior Kuwaiti delegate at the Doha summit "a monkey and a traitor" for interrupting him.

The Kuwaitis had earlier said that the Iraqi leadership should consider stepping down. "The real giant" is how the Iraqi described Saddam Hussein. Everyone in the Gulf, of course, said President Saddam should resign, which is not surprising since he is the only Arab leader who – however wrong his reasons – has fought against America.

At the Organisation of Islamic Conference in Doha, Qatar, yesterday, Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah interrupted to talk about Iraqi "lies". The Iraqis' reply? Mr Douri was quite forthright. "Shut up, you monkey, you traitor. Curses be upon your moustache," he said.

Sheikh Ahmed Fahd al-Ahmed, the Kuwaiti Information Minister, leapt up, waved his small Kuwaiti flag and demanded the floor. But the chairman, Sheikh Hamed bin Khalifa bin al-Saadi, chairing the summit for the United Arab Emirates, was adamant. "We are not here for such exchanges," he said.

Turning to Mr Douri, the chairman responded: "You started your speech with a verse of the Koran which said that we shall be united by the word of God. This is hypocrisy and falsehood."

No wonder most Arab nations declined their invitation to Doha – even Lebanon sent only a low-level delegation. Democracy does not really exist in the Arab world. Only in Turkey does it have some effect, which is why, to the immense shame of the Arabs, Turkey has refused to accept US troops on its territory to invade Iraq – even while at least five Arab states have done so.

Turkey, as every Arab knows, is an ally of Israel. But Turkey – the much-loathed centre of the former Ottoman empire – has represented Arabs just as France's President, François Chirac, now represents most Britons.

The Doha summit was never going to sway the governments of Europe or America but it was one more chance, if it were needed, for the Arab world to show some form of mature opposition to the impending war on Iraq. Alas for the Arabs. The tribes of the Gulf and Iraq – "tribes with flags" as a great British historian of the Crusades called them – were not going to put on any shows of unity.

Just as Colonel Gaddafi of Libya and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia spat venom at each other at the Arab League summit at Sharm al-Sheikh at the weekend, so the Iraqis and their Gulf adversaries were bound to demonstrate their hatred yesterday.