Kuwait City : Arab leaders have patched up their differences over the three-week Israeli offensive against Gaza in a Saudi reconciliation bid on the sidelines of the Arab summit held here yesterday. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia called on Arabs at the summit opening to rise above their differences and hosted a lunch that brought together the leaders of Kuwait, Egypt,
Syria, Jordan and Qatar, Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said.
“This speech prepared for a reconciliation led today by King Abdullah with … the emir of Kuwait,” Sheikh Hamad said. “There was clear word from these leaders for a real, clear reconciliation, from the heart. We left with an understanding that undoubtedly a new page had been turned that would benefit and strengthen the Arab position…”he said.
Sheikh Hamad said there were some misunderstandings over the recent Doha meeting, which was not meant to replace Kuwait’s summit. “We hope now that we can put our hands together … to strengthen the Arab position,” Sheikh Hamad said following the opening speeches, King Abdullah held a closed-door meeting with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, during which the reconciliation was reached. Sharp disagreements have hampered the Arab response to Israel’s 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The split was highlighted after Qatar hosted an Arab summit on Friday that did not meet the required quorum to qualify as an Arab League summit. The summit, attended by Syria and Hamas, sought confrontational action against Israel even as the other Arab countries which did not attend, including Saudi Arabia, preferred the internationally backed Egyptian approach that saw separate ceasefires announced on Sunday by Israel and the Hamas rulers of Gaza. Seventeen Arab heads of state are attending the two-day summit while another five countries are represented at senior official level