BEIRUT - Lebanon has decided not to take part in this week's Arab summit in Damascus because of Syria's negative role in the country's protracted presidential crisis, a cabinet minister said on Tuesday.

"The Council of Ministers has decided against Lebanon's participation in the Arab summit scheduled for March 29 in Damascus," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after the cabinet meeting.

"This is is a regrettable precedent that was imposed upon us," he added, accusing Syria of being directly responsible for the current stand-off between the pro- and anti-Syrian camps and of causing the presidential vaccuum.

"By not taking part in the summit, Lebanon wanted to reaffirm that it should be represented by its head of state at such a meeting and that the Lebanese were unwilling to accept the status quo," Aridi said.

While adding that the decision did not mean cutting off ties with Syria, he also invited Arab states to assist the rebuilding of Lebanese-Syrian relations on healthy grounds.

Earlier, an official told AFP the cabinet did not rule out the possibility that Lebanon could send a message to be read at the two-day summit.

Syria, which held sway in Lebanese affairs for decades before it was forced to withdraw its troops from the country in 2005, has been accused of standing in the way of electing a new president.

Regional heavyweigts Saudi Arabia and Egypt have blamed it for obstructing the election, and leaders of both countries are boycotting the summit.

A senior adviser to Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora earlier told AFP Lebanon would likely boycott the summit.

"We want to voice a national concern in rejection of the fact that Lebanon continues to be without a president months after the scheduled election," Mohammed Chatah said.

Chatah was referring to a standoff between the government and the Hezbollah-led opposition that has left Lebanon without a president since November, when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his mandate. "We recognize that the Arab League has a role to play in dealing with the problem of Lebanese-Syrian relations, which are an element of the current domestic and political crisis in Lebanon," Chatah said.

"But to be effective, there needs to be preparatory work and the venue has to be appropriate.

"The regional dimension of the crisis should be discussed but it has to be prepared for in a different way, not just by shaking hands."

On Monday, the Arab League had urged Lebanon to attend the summit, which has been mired in controversy, with some Arab states vowing to boycott it because of the Lebanese crisis.

Oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia has decided to send a low-ranking diplomat to the summit in a decision reflecting a rift between Riyadh and Damascus over the Lebanese crisis, a senior Saudi official said on Monday.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is also not expected to attend.

Syria had officially delivered the invitation on March 13 when Siniora was out of the country, presenting it to opposition member and former foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh.

"The fact that the invitation to the summit was delivered to a resigned minister proves once more that the Syrian regime does not want to recognise or to admit that Lebanon is a free, independent, sovereign country," Social Affairs Minister Nayla Muawad told AFP eaqrl.

The Lebanese crisis, the worst since the end of the country's 1975-1990 civil war, is widely seen as an extension of the conflict pitting the United States and its allies against Syria and Iran.

On Monday, a 17th session in parliament to elect a successor to Lahoud was postponed. A new session for lawmakers to vote for a new president was set for April 22. -AFP