The opening ceremony started with the Egyptian singer Tamer Hosny singing a new song for Arab unity, and then the entrance of several Arab leaders with Hosni Mubarak, including Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and the Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.
The opening word was given to several Arab Sport Federation Chiefs, and the Secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, and ended with Egyptian President Mubarak's opening words.
The ceremony was divided into eight parts; it started with the Narration of the Abraham's Trip in the desert, and the founding of the Kaaba, thus Mecca, and Arab Unity under Islam, and stressed on the power of Words in the Quran, and then it showed several dances showing the Arab Literature and Arts, then showed performances explaining the Arab's leadership in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, gardening and music.
* Host nation (Egypt)By Alphabetical Order The official mascot of Games is Bastet, whose name was derived from the ancient Egyptian goddess Bast.
The mascot Bastet is a black cat, with a headscarf in the ancient Egyptian style, striped with Egypt's flag.