Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Abbas’s Palestinian Authority boycott Emergency Summit on Gaza in Qatar

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Mahmud Abbas boycott Doha Summit

VOA News Updated Jan.17,2009 08:57 KST

At Friday's Doha summit, Qatar and Mauritania announced they would cut political and economic ties with Israel to protest the fighting in Gaza.

The summit went ahead despite a boycott by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority, which Hamas ousted from Gaza, highlighting fault lines in the Arab world over the conflict.

No Success in Doha Summit; President Saleh of Yemen Fails to Attend

Written By: Hakim almasmari ( YEMEN POST STAFF ) Article Date: January 19, 2009

With death toll rising to 1,200 Palestinian people killed and another 5,400 injured, and a ceasefire announced by Israel, Arab leaders have failed to act responsibly with events and failed to hold an exceptional summit for discussing the situation in Gaza.

Major Arab countries sought to foil the exceptional summit called for the Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani including Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The two countries were blamed for the non-participation of other countries like Yemen and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazan who openly stated that he had been pressurized by some parties not to attend the summit.

Justifying the absence of Yemen from Doha, Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi pointed out that Yemen is keen about the unity of Arab countries at this critical moment of the Arab world’s history.

When the Qatari Emir called for holding a summit in Doha, Yemen was among the countries that expressed readiness to attend. However, this readiness did not last long as Yemen apologized later for being unable to attend the summit.

Attended by 13 leaders and representatives of Arab countries and four Islamic leaders, the Qatari Emir expressed sorrowfulness for absence of other Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt."I wish all our brothers were here today so that we can discuss the different issues on this table, irrespective of other viewpoints they might have," said Al-Thani adding, "We wish that Palestinian President was present so that he can discuss the sufferings of his people; however, he preferred not to attend."

Arab leaders meet in Doha despite boycott by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, PA

Ma’an News Date: 16 / 01 / 2009 Time: 14:50

An Arab League summit in Doha, Qatar, began Friday without representatives from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Hamas leadir Khaled Mash’al, Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) leader Ahmad Jibril have all reportedly traveled to Doha from Damascus to attend the summit.

They will be joined by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Sudanese President Umar Al-Bashir, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Algerian President Abdel Aziz Butefleika, Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi, and high-level representatives from Mauritania, Libya, Yemen, Djibouti, the Comoros, and Somalia.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not be attending the summit. Analysts speculated that Abbas’ refusal was related to invitations issued to leaders from rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Islamic Jihad.