Many Arabs think region suffering from disunity - poll

POST CONFLICT: The latest Gaza conflict has revealed sharp divisions between countries in the region, according to a poll. (Getty Images)

More than half of Arabs responding to a poll have said they think Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt were wrong to boycott a summit on Gaza hosted by Qatar in January, with many believing a new 'cold war' is breaking out in the region.

Findings from a survey commissioned by the Doha Debates show that 55 percent across the Arab world think the three countries should have attended the Doha meeting.

In Qatar 87 percent called the decision “incorrect”, with 59 percent of Jordanians joining in the criticism by opposing their own government’s decision to stay away.

Other results from the poll, of almost 2,000 respondents from 19 Arab countries in North Africa, the Gulf and Levant, show that 43 percent agree a “cold war” has broken out in the region.

The idea of an Arab cold war was supported most strongly in Qatar where 69 percent thought the description fitted their current relations with Saudi Arabia.

However, only 40 percent of Saudis shared the view, according tto a report in Qatar daily The Peninsula.

Some Arab states had even used the Gaze conflict to further their own political causes added 58 percent of responders, with Egypt cited as the main offender.

Meanwhile 47 percent of responders from the GCC believed Saudi Arabia was doing the most in recent years to promote Arab unity, while 55 percent believed Arab unity existed in the past, with most thinking it peaked during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

And, 46 percent believed the disunity among Arab states after the latest Gaza conflict was largely the result of outside factors such as US support for Israel, the study said.

The poll, was carried out by YouGovSiraj between Feb 25 and Mar 1 this year, following the latest Doha Debates that discussed Arab unity after Gaza.

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READERS' COMMENTS

IT'S AN OPEN SECRET
Posted by ABUSIDRA, DUBAI, U.A.E. on Tuesday 17 March 2009 at 19:07 UAE time


The sufferings, the insults the cowardice are they not the results of the contributions of collective 'distrust' and 'disunity' of the Muslim States? It is another fulfilment of prophecy. Muslims can taste success unless they change themselves from within.

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