CAIRO  Arab leaders may be divided over which Palestinian faction to support and what to do about Iran’s rising influence, but they have found one cause to rally around: protecting the president of Sudan from charges that he orchestrated the rape, killing and widespread pillaging in Darfur.

Arab leaders gathered for their annual summit meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Monday, hoping to patch over their many differences. But they had little trouble agreeing to an effusive embrace of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court this month for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court also issued a warrant for his arrest.

The emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, greeted Mr. Bashir at the airport with a red carpet treatment, a warm embrace and a kiss on the cheek. Even before the meeting began, Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, said the member states would “continue our efforts to halt the implementation of the warrant.”

Arab leaders have closed ranks around a fellow head of state in the face of pressure from the West and condemnation from human rights groups around the world. They have argued that the International Criminal Court compromised Sudan’s sovereignty. Their supporters said the court’s action revealed the West’s double standard in dealing with Arabs by indicting Mr. Bashir while taking no action against what they saw as war crimes committed by Israel during its offensive in Gaza. They added that the indictment undermined efforts at bringing about a negotiated settlement by inflaming the situation.