Arab states pledge billions in aid for reconstruction

Kuwait: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah pledged $1 billion (about Dh3.67 billion) to help rebuild Gaza and warned an Arab peace initiative for the region put forward in 2002 may be withdrawn, while Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the Rafah border post into the Gaza Strip will be opened for humanitarian aid.

"Israel should know that the choice between war and peace will not always be open at all times," the Saudi monarch said in a televised speech at the opening of the Arab Economic Summit in Kuwait. "The Arab initiative on the table today will not always be on the table."

Arab states offered in 2002 to normalise relations with Israel in exchange for Israel withdrawing from land conquered in the 1967 Middle East War and a "just solution" to the Palestinian refugee issue.

"It's a sign of frustration and the degree to which Gaza has threatened to throw the peace process into reverse," Nicolas Pelham, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, said in an interview with Gulf News.

King Abdullah criticised the Israelis for using excessive force in Gaza, saying the Jewish holy book called for "an eye for an eye and did not say an eye for the eyes of a whole city."

"I know that one drop of Palestinian blood is more valuable than the treasures of the world," he added.

Meanwhile, Mubarak blamed Hamas for 'inviting' Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza by not extending their ceasefire when it expired last month.

"You all know that efforts Egypt had undertaken to extend the ceasefire and our warnings that a refusal by factions to extend it was an open invitation to Israeli aggression," Mubarak told a summit of Arab leaders in Kuwait.

The summit which was initially intended to review the economic situation of Gulf countries, was almost entirely focused on Gaza. The summit was renamed, "The summit for solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza" to show support for Gazans. "Palestinians are fighting for their dignity and right to establish their sovereign state," Shaikh Sabah, Emir of Kuwait said in his opening speech. "Our people in Gaza are facing a horrific Israeli aggression targeting innocents and destroying everything," he added.

Shaikh Sabah described the Israeli offensive on Gaza a "war crime and a crime against humanity", calling for "those responsible to be held accountable."

Seventeen Arab heads of state are attending the two-day summit while another five countries are represented at senior official level.

A number of Arab countries have called for scrapping the initiative after Israel launched its deadly onslaught on Gaza.

The Kuwaiti Emir said his country will donate $34 million needed by the UN relief agency for refugees (UNRWA) for its relief work in Gaza Strip.

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad said that Israel must be labelled a terrorist state saying "if anybody commits a terrorist action, we should not hesitate to accuse him of terrorism."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday urged Arab leaders to join together in backing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his efforts to reunite the war-ravaged Gaza Strip with the West Bank.

"The Palestinians themselves must face the challenge of reconciliation, and work to achieve a unified government under the leadership of President Abbas," Ban told an Arab League summit expected to approve $2 billion in aid to rebuild Gaza.

Meanwhile, the leaders of five Arab states, including Egypt and Syria, met yesterday to try to mend a rift pitting Cairo and Riyadh against Qatar and Syria, a Saudi diplomatic source said.

The meeting, called for by Saudi King Abdullah and held on the sidelines of an Arab economic summit in Kuwait City, included the ruler of Kuwait as well as the four states at the centre of the rift, the source said.

-With inputs from agencies