EGYPT will forward new proposals in support of the Palestinians to a pan-Arab summit, which starts on Saturday in the Libyan city of Sirte, according to an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official. "Egypt will propose some new ideas to help improve the situation in Jerusalem against Israel's repressive practices," the Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki added. He said that Egypt hoped the upcoming Arab summit could adopt a firm situation to rescue the Holy City. The stalled Middle East peace process dominated discussions by Arab foreign ministers in the Mediterranean Libyan city yesterday in a bid to hammer out an agenda for their leaders when they meet on Saturday. Moussa Kusa, the Secretary to Libya's People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Co-operation who headed the meeting, told the opening session that Arab countries needed to take anactive action to lift the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and to salvage Jerusalem from Israeli bids to Judaise it. Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Abdullah al-Mahmoud handed over the chairmanship of the meeting to his Libyan counterpart. "The Arab world is faced with many crises and challenges, which have put them in the teeth of the storm. The worst result would be a crisis of confidence among Arab countries," said al- Mahmoud. The foreign ministers discussed a draft resolution on developments in the Palestinian territories, solidarity with Lebanon and the Golan Heights, as well as a Syrian initiative on drawing up a mechanism for managing inter-Arab division and the UAE's proposal on combatting international terrorism. Many Arab leaders will not attend the summit for various reasons. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, who is recuperating in Germany after a surgery, delegated Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif to attend the summit. Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates decided to have a low-profile representation. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to quit an Arab summit in protest at a meeting this week between Libyan leader Mummar Gaddafi and Iraqi opposition figures. Youssef Ahmed, the Syrian Ambassador to the Arab League, said the summit would be a message of support to Jerusalem. "To support Jerusalem, we have to finalise the Palestinian and Arab reconciliation through a unified Arab stance," Ahmed said. The long list of absentees for the summit is said to include also Saudi King, the President Yemen and the sultan of Oman. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday that he would participate in the Libya summit amid what he called a crisis of confidence surrounding Israel's plans to build new settlements in East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Jordan's King Abdullah warned Israel in a rare public rebuke that it is "playing with fire" with its settlement policy, and said in comments published on Thursday the Jewish state must decide whether it wants peace or war. The comments from the Jordanian leader, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, underscore his frustration with recent Israeli announcements of new housing for Jews in disputed East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as the capital of a future state. The Israeli plans came just as longstalled indirect peace talks were to begin under US mediation. The housing announcement enraged Arabs, and triggered sharp condemnation from Washington and the international community. "We have warned repeatedly that Israel is playing with fire," Abdullah said in an interview published with local newspapers.
