King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, called for an emergency GCC summit in Riyadh on Thursday “due to the escalation of recent events” resulting from the Israeli aggression in Gaza “and the circumstances of the Arab nation,” the Saudi Press Agency said, Wednesday. Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council states have confirmed participation, SPA said, citing an official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifah of Bahrain will attend, the Bahrain News Agency said. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also announced participation. The GCC groups Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. The call for the GCC summit came amid discord in the 22-member Arab League over holding an emergency summit on Gaza, as sought by Qatar, over what action to take in support of the Gaza Palestinians. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said in Kuwait late Wednesday that Qatar did not have the required quorum to convene the emergency Arab summit in Doha to discuss possible actions on the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. “So far, the quorum to hold an emergency Arab summit in Doha has not been achieved. We only have the approval of 13 countries,” after Iraq pulled out, Moussa told a press conference. Fifteen member countries or a two-thirds quorum is needed to convene an emergency meeting of Arab leaders. Qatar's official news agency quoted Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani as saying Doha had received the names of the Iraqi delegation, making up the 15-member support needed for an official summit to be held, and was waiting for Baghdad to inform the Arab League in writing. Moussa ruled out the chances of holding an Arab summit in Doha on Friday by confirming an Arab foreign ministers meeting in Kuwait on the same day to prepare for the Arab Economic Summit on Jan. 19-20 “which will also discuss the issue of Gaza.” Late night address The row spilled into the open late Wednesday when Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani made a televised address to the Arab world, saying that “it is disgraceful” to discuss the Gaza crisis in a “consultative meeting” in Kuwait. He proposed establishing a Gaza fund to which he announced a donation of $250 million. The Emir insisted that the Arab emergency summit in Doha was still on and that he was waiting for a response (from Iraq). Earlier on Wednesday, the United Arab Emirates said it will take part in the Qatari-proposed summit. Besides the UAE and host Qatar, Mauritania, Algeria, Syria, Morocco, Libya, Sudan, Lebanon, Yemen, Djibouti, Somalia, the Comoros, Oman and the Palestinian Authority have said they would attend, according to the Arab League. Moussa, referring to the divisions over the emergency summit, said: “The image of Arab countries is very bad. We must overcome them not aggravate them. There must be a consensus.” He said the Israeli onslaught will be discussed by the Arab leaders as part of the Kuwait summit and that no separate meeting will be held. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are in favor of discussing the Gaza situation during the Jan. 19-20 economic summit in Kuwait. Saudi Arabia supports Egypt's efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The two countries backed the UN Security Council's call last Thursday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza leading to a withdrawal of Israeli troops, a call that was rejected by Israel and ignored by Hamas. However, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani, in a televised speech late Wednesday, said Arab natiions should freeze normalization of relations with Israel and also suspend the Arab peace initiative, among other measures. The approach, however, threatens to divert attention from the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 4,850, according to Palestinian emergency services. UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Wednesday, said that “we are in a race against the clock” to end the war in Gaza. “Egyptian efforts in this regard are crucial,” Ban said, repeating his call to both Israel and Hamas for an immediate and durable ceasefire. Cairo is in the forefront of international efforts to broker a truce, Ban said. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, who also met Mubarak on Wednesday, told journalists alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit that “we are closer to an agreement” for a ceasefire. Ban called for “urgent humanitarian assistance to be provided,” to deal with a humanitarian crisis breaking out in Gaza. Ban is also due to travel to Jordan, Israel, the West Bank city of Ramallah, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Kuwait, where he is due to attend the Arab League economic summit. In Kuwait, Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabai called on Wednesday, during a special debate in parliament over the Israeli offensive, for moving the Arab League headquarters from Cairo to Caracas since Venezuela has expelled Israel's ambassador because of its onslaught on the Gaza Strip. Tabtabai said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez “has proved that he was more Arab than some Arabs.” Responding to Al-Tabtabai, Arab League spokesman Youssef told Saudi Gazette by phone: “This is his personal view and not the view of the Kuwaiti government.”
