Arab Leaders at Odds in their Summit

Local Editor

Arab leaders are holding talks at the annual Arab League summit in Kuwait, amid the unprecedented diplomatic fallout among the Gulf countries and tensions over the crisis in Egypt and Syria on Tuesday.

The talks are to be focused on the divisions between Gulf countries, and the conflicts in Egypt and Syria.
With the focus on Syria taking lead, its opposition so-called "National Coalition head", Ahmad al-Jarba, addressed Arab leaders at the opening session, while the regional rift over Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood was left aside.

The emir of Qatar called Tuesday for "comprehensive dialogue" in Egypt to achieve political stability and insisted on good ties with Cairo which accuses Doha of supporting banned Brotherhood supporters. "We wish Egypt, our elder sister, political stability and all the good for its people," said Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the opening of the summit.
He further stressed "on the brotherly links we have with Egypt."

Tamim said he hoped that stability in Egypt would be achieved through "a comprehensive dialogue" between the government and all parties -- an apparent reference to Mursi's blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

For his part, Saudi Arabia's crown prince said the international community had "betrayed" Syrian armed groups by being slow to provide them with arms as they fight to topple the Syrian government.
Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, addressing the Arab summit in Kuwait City, said a "legitimate resistance betrayed by the international community and left easy prey to tyrant forces is facing challenges in the conflict-hit country."

Kuwait's emir, Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, called on the meeting to solve rifts he said were obstructing joint Arab action.

"The dangers around us are enormous and we will not move towards joint Arab action without our unity and without casting aside our difference," Sheikh Sabah, the summit host, said.

International envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, briefed leaders on the dim prospects of a political settlement after the failure of two rounds of peace talks in Geneva. He said on Monday that a further round of peace talks between the Syrian regime and the opposition was "out of the question for the time being because the criteria have not been met."

Regarding the Palestinian issue, Arab leaders are expected to call for $100 million in monthly aid for the Palestinian Authority and to reject recognition of "Israel" as a Jewish state.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmud Abbas who just ended talks with US President Barack Obama in Washington last week, is to brief his Arab counterparts at the summit.
Several leaders arrived in Kuwait for the two-day summit, including the Lebanese President, the Egyptian interim prime minister, the Yemeni president and the head of Libya's General National Congress.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team