UAE condemns attacks, calls for Arab League talks

SUPPORT CALL: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. (AFP)

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Saturday that he was in "urgent contact" with numerous countries over the deadly Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

"We have carried out urgent contacts with numerous Arab countries and other nations to stop the cowardly aggressions and massacres in the Gaza Strip," Abbas told AFP from Saudi Arabia which he is currently visiting.

The UAE condemned the Israeli aggression on Gaza. In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UAE also voiced support to the Jordanian request for an emergency Arab League meeting.

The meeting which is to be at the level of foreign ministers will discuss and formulate a unified Arab position to stop the current aggression on Gaza.

The Islamist Hamas movement that controls Gaza said Saturday's Israeli attacks killed at least 155 people.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), presided over by Abbas, called for a strike and protests in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in the centre of Ramallah. One placard read "We will not forget you, Gaza."

Hundreds more Palestinians protested in south Lebanon. Demonstrators in Ain al-Helweh - the largest of the country's 12 refugee camps with 45,000 residents - burned tyres and dustbins and blocked the main road.

Abbas told AFP he had called Jordan's King Abdullah II and would also be contacting King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

"We will also contact Egypt, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations with the aim of stopping the aggression and restoring the truce," he said.

King Abdullah of Jordan has been in touch with Abbas and with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to "launch an Arab and international initiative aimed at ending the Israeli aggression," the palace said.

The king urged a "return to negotiations which are the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," it said in a statement.

"Abdullah called in the international community to accept its legal and moral responsibility towards the Palestinian people by demanding that Israel stops its aggression against the Gaza strip," the palace said in a statement.

A six-month Egyptian-mediated truce between Israel and Hamas expired on December 19 amid continued violations.

Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in a statement also "vigorously condemned the Israeli aggression in Gaza" and called for "its immediate end."

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Condemn?
Posted by marijke, Manama, Bahrain on Tuesday 30 December 2008 at 13:10 UAE time


So far, since Israel started their attacks on Gaza, governments around the world have done nothing but condemn and talk. This is not going to help the people suffering in Gaza. The Arab nations should be the first to help their brothers, what is brotherhood if you watch them suffer? They should try to stop the attacks and intervene within Palestine to bring the 2 rival parties together. Stop talking and take action.

Talks? No, action.
Posted by Osama, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday 30 December 2008 at 09:03 UAE time


Talks are just an excuse for delaying the imminent. Talking will lead to nothing. The Arab states need to unite and show that they won't just watch while Israel slaughters innocents.

Mumbai terror attack
Posted by Osama, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Sunday 28 December 2008 at 21:10 UAE time


And how is this any different from the Mumbai terror attack recently over which Pakistan is being blamed and India is planning for war?

HOW MANY HAVE TO DIE?????????
Posted by GB, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 28 December 2008 at 10:21 UAE time


yet another attack by Israel against Palestine while the world stands by and does nothing - armies from all over the world step in and help any other country EXCEPT Palestine. These people are no different to others whose country has been invaded and they have the right to defend themselves against the aggressors. However, the super powers and the World Court do nothing to stop the carnage. Arab countries just hold fruitless talks - but take no REAL action.
How many innocent citizens have to die and how many refugees from Palestine have to endure statelessness before this situation is resolved permanently. When their lands were taken from them by force there was an arrangement made which, to date, has NEVER been honoured. if this situation was happening in one of the "Super Power" countries I am sure it would have been resolved immediately and the terms agreed to so long ago would have been enforced.
While the world stands by and just has aimless talks - nothign will be achieved and they all will contibute to the genocide of these people.

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM