Qatar says has quorum for Arab summit on Gaza
DUBAI, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Qatar said on Wednesday it had secured a quorum to hold an emergency Arab summit on the Israeli offensive in Gaza this week, after a tug-of-war which split the Arab world into two competing camps.
Qatar's official news agency quoted Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani as saying the Gulf Arab gas exporter had received the names of the Iraqi delegation, making up the 15 League members needed for an official Arab summit to be held, and was waiting for Baghdad to inform the Arab League in writing.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa arrived in Kuwait on Wednesday and told reporters at the airport it would become clear within hours whether the summit would take place.
The United Arab Emirates has also confirmed it would be attending the summit scheduled to be held in Doha on Friday.
"There is an Arab effort that we hope will lead to the important thing, which is reaching a solution to the situation in the Gaza Strip," Qatar's news agency quoted Sheikh Hamad as saying, adding that Qatar had also received positive signals from some countries awaiting a quorum before making a decision.
With the death toll in Gaza edging towards 1,000, the summit plans have underscored deep divisions in the Arab world and risk further undermining an Arab League already considered by many ordinary Arabs to be a toothless body.
Qatar, which has recently patched up once-tense relations with its influential neighbour Saudi Arabia, had asked the 22-member Arab League in Cairo to convene an emergency Arab Summit on Gaza in its capital Doha on Friday.
But regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt, both of which oppose the Hamas group that rules Gaza, said on Tuesday they would attend an Arab Economic Summit in Kuwait and would discuss the matter there next week.
Conservative Arab governments are wary of summits at times of crisis because they are reluctant to pass confrontational resolutions which would meet the expectations of public opinion. Egypt, the only Arab state bordering Gaza, has also faced Arab criticism for cooperating in the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Egypt says it will not open the Gaza-Egypt border for normal traffic without the presence of the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces Hamas routed in 2007.
The Kuwait summit would merge the discussion of the Gaza conflict with the previously scheduled economic meeting.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who is on a Middle East tour aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, is due to address the summit in Kuwait on Monday.
Sheikh Hamad said his country would attend the Kuwaiti summit at the highest level, regardless of whether a special meeting on Gaza is held in Doha or not.
Officials in Qatar said preparations for the Doha meeting were under way but there were still chances that it would not go ahead, with some officials insisting that key Arab states had refused to go. If it takes place without a quorum, the Arab League would not consider the meeting or its resolutions valid.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a news conference that the countries who did not agree were Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain and Kuwait. (Reporting by Lin Noueihed and Jonathan Wright, Editing by Matthew Jones)
Qatar's official news agency quoted Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani as saying the Gulf Arab gas exporter had received the names of the Iraqi delegation, making up the 15 League members needed for an official Arab summit to be held, and was waiting for Baghdad to inform the Arab League in writing.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa arrived in Kuwait on Wednesday and told reporters at the airport it would become clear within hours whether the summit would take place.
The United Arab Emirates has also confirmed it would be attending the summit scheduled to be held in Doha on Friday.
"There is an Arab effort that we hope will lead to the important thing, which is reaching a solution to the situation in the Gaza Strip," Qatar's news agency quoted Sheikh Hamad as saying, adding that Qatar had also received positive signals from some countries awaiting a quorum before making a decision.
With the death toll in Gaza edging towards 1,000, the summit plans have underscored deep divisions in the Arab world and risk further undermining an Arab League already considered by many ordinary Arabs to be a toothless body.
Qatar, which has recently patched up once-tense relations with its influential neighbour Saudi Arabia, had asked the 22-member Arab League in Cairo to convene an emergency Arab Summit on Gaza in its capital Doha on Friday.
But regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt, both of which oppose the Hamas group that rules Gaza, said on Tuesday they would attend an Arab Economic Summit in Kuwait and would discuss the matter there next week.
Conservative Arab governments are wary of summits at times of crisis because they are reluctant to pass confrontational resolutions which would meet the expectations of public opinion. Egypt, the only Arab state bordering Gaza, has also faced Arab criticism for cooperating in the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Egypt says it will not open the Gaza-Egypt border for normal traffic without the presence of the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces Hamas routed in 2007.
The Kuwait summit would merge the discussion of the Gaza conflict with the previously scheduled economic meeting.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who is on a Middle East tour aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, is due to address the summit in Kuwait on Monday.
Sheikh Hamad said his country would attend the Kuwaiti summit at the highest level, regardless of whether a special meeting on Gaza is held in Doha or not.
Officials in Qatar said preparations for the Doha meeting were under way but there were still chances that it would not go ahead, with some officials insisting that key Arab states had refused to go. If it takes place without a quorum, the Arab League would not consider the meeting or its resolutions valid.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a news conference that the countries who did not agree were Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain and Kuwait. (Reporting by Lin Noueihed and Jonathan Wright, Editing by Matthew Jones)
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