King Abdullah of
At the Arab League summit in
"It has become necessary to end the unjust blockadeimposed on the Palestinian people as soon as possible so that the peace processcan move in an atmosphere far from oppression and force," he said onWednesday.
The summit drew a number of world and Muslim leaders whobacked the Arab plan for renewed Arab-Israeli peace efforts.
Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general said in an address:"This initiative sends a signal that the Arabs are serious about achievingpeace."
Palestinian focus
King Abdullah stressed that Sunni-Shia violence in
"In beloved
Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, and one ofseveral world figures invited to the summit's opening session, went further bywarning that rising tensions in the Gulf region risked a confrontation thatcould affect the entire world.
"Tensions in the Gulf region are shaping an ominousconfrontation that could have incalculable consequences globally, regionallyand among the Muslim umma [faithful].
"We cannot remain helpless spectators in this and othercrises and conflicts afflicting the Islamic world… We need to join hands towork for solutions on the basis of fairness, justice and realism."
Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, pressed
"The Israelis' response was to ask for an amendment. Wetell them to accept it first," he said.
The Arab peace plan offers the Jewish state normal ties withall Arab countries if it fully withdraws from land it occupied in 1967, acceptsa Palestinian state and agrees to a "just solution" for Palestinianrefugees.
No compromise
Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister urged leadersnot to compromise on the right of refugees to return to homes lost in the turmoilsurrounding the creation of the Israeli state.
"I expect the Arab summit to reiterate the Arabcountries' commitment not to compromise in any way on the Palestinian refugees'right of return under any circumstances."
A final draft resolution calls for a "justsolution" to the problem of Palestinian refugees who fled their homes in1948 but avoids any mention of the phrase "right of return".
Abbas said: "I don't believe there will be anotheropportunity in the future like this."
The Bahraini president of the UN General Assembly became thefirst woman to address an Arab summit on Wednesday as she took the podium atthe opening session in
Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa was the first woman to address anannual summit of the 22-member Arab League since the bloc was formed in 1945.
The 53-year-old was one of the first women to practise lawin
Source:Agencies