DARFUR - Arab leaders have concluded their annual summit by showing their support for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir who is wanted for war crimes.

The Arab League said it rejected the International Criminal Court's decision to issue a warrant for his arrest.

President Bashir had earlier spoken at the summit in Qatar, and won strong support from his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.

They were among 17 heads of state in Qatar, but some seats remained empty.

At Monday's opening session he called the king a British product and an American ally.

The two leaders appeared to bury the hatchet with a 30 minute face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the summit, reports said.

Earlier in the day, Syrian President Assad said those who had "committed massacres and atrocities in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon" should be arrested first.

President Bashir attended the summit to thank the leaders for their support.

Qatar has not signed the ICC charter, which obliges a member state to arrest those indicted by the court when they enter its territory.