Disputes dominated yesterday's meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, where they gathered to discuss the tragic situation in the Gaza Strip and try to stop the Israeli aggressions on the Palestinians. The ministers split over the proposal to hold an emergency summit as put forward by Syria and Qatar and backed by ten countries. During the meeting, Egypt put forward a paper to solve the crisis. According to sources, such paper focuses on the necessity to stop the Israeli aggression and to respond to the efforts aimed at reaching a Palestinian reconciliation. The paper also stresses that Hamas must recognize Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian president. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa criticized in his speech the inter-Palestinian and inter-Arab disputes, saying that what Gaza is currently going through is a result of these discords. "We must now work on an immediate cessation of the Israeli aggression" he said. He also called for an immediate meeting of the Security Council, adding: "Inter-Palestinian divisions and the loss of the Arabs' role are all factors that have made Israel so audacious against the Arabs. This is a policy based on deceit, as Israel has taken over Arabs' lands through occupations, killings and destructions. Mr. Moussa called on Arab leaders not to add fuel to the fire. "Inter-Arabs disputes and mounting accusations of treachery have poisoned the atmosphere in our region and have perhaps caused conflicts the consequences of which are still being felt" he added, calling on the Arabs to stop leveling such mutual accusations. Behind the scenes, Egypt and Syria tried to gain support for their respective points of view. Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit met with his Palestinian, Jordanian, Moroccan, Bahraini, Yemeni and UAE counterparts to explain to them Cairo's vision with regards to what is happening in Gaza. Such vision is based on an immediate cessation of the Israeli military operations and a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. For his part, the Syrian foreign minister tried to persuade his Arab colleagues of his country's view concerning an emergency Arab summit to discuss the Gaza massacre. Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza due to the Cast Lead operation has risen to 391, while Palestinian injured are now 2,000.
