GAZA CITY, 1 March 2003 — The Palestinian Authority yesterday urged Arab leaders who will meet in Egypt to adopt a “firm” position against Israel’s tactics in the occupied territories, especially with the extreme right leanings of its new government. “We call on the Arab summit to adopt a clear and firm position toward the Israeli aggression against our people,” Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s senior adviser, Nabil Abu Rudeina, told reporters.
Fifteen heads of state, as well as other senior representatives, from the 22-member Arab League will meet today at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh to discuss mainly the Iraqi crisis. Abu Rudeina said the agenda of the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s new coalition was a “challenge to international efforts, notably those of the American administration” to end the Middle East conflict.
International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath said Arafat would not attend the Arab summit because there was no guarantee Israel would allow him to return to Ramallah, where he has been pinned down since late 2001.
Sharon’s government took office early yesterday with a mission to rescue the country’s declining economy but looked set to wait for a broader coalition to tackle the issue of peace with the Palestinians. The lineup is one of the most extreme right-wing in the Jewish state’s history and drew early warnings of insurmountable differences within the Cabinet that would lead to a collapse.
