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Kuwait City: Gaza is expected to cast a heavy shadow on the first ever Arab economic summit, set to start here on Monday.
The announced agenda of the Economic, Social and Development Summit includes major pan-Arab economic issues, including the power and railway link, revamping education and health care, Arab customs union and reducing employment.
However, the Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip are expected to dominate discussions in the two-day meeting.
The summit will also discuss the ceasefire declared by Israel on Saturday and Hamas's announcement on Sunday of a one-week truce to allow Israeli troops to withdraw.
The UAE delegation is led by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who arrived in Kuwait yesterday. The summit's goal is "to boost joint Arab economic cooperation and achieve Arab socio-economic renaissance through realisation of socio-economic security," the President said upon his arrival in Kuwait City.
"The challenges facing Arab nations today, in the current global financial crisis and globalisation era, require agreement on appropriate attitudes to avert repercussions of the crisis and set effective strategies to incorporate in the knowledge-driven economy," Shaikh Khalifa said.
Today's meeting was preceded by a socio-economic forum held yesterday to discuss the impact of the global financial crisis on the Arab world's economy, inter-Arab investments and climate change and its effects on natural resources.
But Israel's three-week war on Gaza and the division between Arab countries on how to tackle the issue, is again overshadowing everything else. A key issue to be addressed will be the rebuilding of Gaza, which is in ruins after the air and ground assault.
The summit is expected to welcome the announcement by Hamas yesterday that it will observe a one week ceasefire.
"The Israeli enemy has failed in its bid to impose conditions. We in the Palestinian resistance movements announce a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and demand that enemy forces withdraw in a week and open all border crossings to permit the entry of humanitarian aid and basic goods," Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq, said in a speech on Syrian state television.
The announcement came as six European and three Arab leaders met in Egypt to discuss plans to shore up the fragile ceasefire.
The meeting was chaired by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. "There will be no peace if Israel stays in Gaza," Sarkozy said.
Palestinians yesterday rushed to remove bodies from the rubble and survey damage to homes caused since Israel launched its war on on December 27.
"Israel must allow full access to humanitarian workers, and to relief supplies," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters en route to the Egypt summit. "We must also end Gaza's economic isolation by reopening the crossings that link it to the outside world."
During the 22-day war, Israeli attacks killed more than 1,300 Palestinians. |
