Originally scheduled for 1996, the games were delayed due to rebuilding efforts after war with Israel – efforts that were themselves hampered by Operation Grapes of Wrath, which targeted areas in Beirut one year earlier. Iraqi athletes did not compete for a second time running, due to regional opposition of its Invasion of Kuwait. At the games, drug tests came back positive for some athletes – a first for the competition. As a result of the rescheduling, the dates for the athletics somewhat overlapped with those of the athletics at the 1997 Mediterranean Games. Future Pan Arab Games were scheduled in the year before the Summer Olympics to avoid similar clashes of the regional events, which are attended by several of the same nations. The first day of the athletics was marred by disqualification of four sprinters (from Morocco and Algeria), who had pushed one another.