First Arab economic summit focuses on Gaza, inter-Arab development

KUWAIT CITY. January 19. KAZINFORM Heads of state of the Arab League (AL), together with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, met here on Monday for the first Arab economic summit to tackle the Gaza crisis in addition to the impact of global financial crisis and inter-Arab developmental issues.

Addressing the opening session of the summit broadcast live, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah condemned the Israeli "invasion" of Gaza as crimes against humanity and war crimes, saying "our weaponless families in Gaza are facing an atrocious Israeli aggression targeting innocents and demolishing all pillars of life." In an attempt to help the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) continue its services, the emir said Kuwait would donate 34 million U.S. dollars to enable the UN aid group to supply the urgent needs of the Palestinian people. During its three-week offensive on Gaza which has killed over 1,400 Palestinians and wounded 5,500 others, the Israel army has bombarded UN facilities in the besieged Gaza, derailing the work of UN staff in the enclave sandwiched between Egypt and Israel. Sheikh Sabah applauded the resistance of the Palestinian people to defend their humanitarian dignity, withholding their natural right to establish an independent state. He vowed that the Arab world will support "the Palestinian brothers" and "resist the Israeli aggression," calling on Arab leaders to agree on practical steps to maintain the ceasefire which was announced by Israel and Hamas. Sheikh Sabah called for an immediate and unconditional implementation of UN resolution 1860 to pave way for a full and unconditional Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories and lift the siege on Gaza. The economic summit, the first of its kind since the establishment of the pan-Arab bloc, has the slogan of "In Solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza" added to the high-level meeting due to the Israeli onslaught against the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip. Sheikh Sabah appreciated Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's call for an international summit in Sharm el-Sheikh which reiterated the ceasefire, and called for opening of the crossings, completion of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza to provide humanitarian aid and a donors' conference. On Saturday night, Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire in line with an Egyptian initiative. Hamas and other Gaza militant groups on Sunday announced that they would stage a one-week ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the emir also announced an Arab initiative worth 2 billion dollars to finance small and medium-sized enterprises and private sector projects, adding that Kuwait will contribute 500 million dollars to the Arab initiative. He said the summit will focus on the economic, social and development issues to improve living standards of the Arab peoples, and discuss how to curb the negative impact of the global financial crisis on Arab economies. The Arab nations will promote the common action on addressing Arab economic and social development, and provide a favorable environment for such development, the emir said. The summit, called by the Kuwait emir and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during the 2007 Arab Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is expected to set up a clear "road map" for Arab economy and all related social and developmental issues. The two-day summit, which comes amid the global financial crisis, will address daily concerns of Arab citizens like poverty, health, education, railway network and electricity linkage, fighting unemployment, establishing a custom union, food and water security, according to the summit schedule, Kazinform cites Xinhua. The UN chief Ban Ki-moon had been promoting a ceasefire since Israel launched its air offensive on Dec. 27 and embarked on a week-long extensive tour of Middle East on Wednesday to press for Israel and Hamas to accept UN resolution 1860.