Wednesday, 7 January 2009
The refusal of the US president-elect, Barack Obama, to comment on the Gaza conflict had disappointed Arab leaders, the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said yesterday.
Mr Maliki said that Mr Obama's silence on Gaza contrasted with his willingness to comment on the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November.
"We expected him really to be open and responsive to the situation in Gaza and still you know we expect him to make a strong statement regarding this as soon as possible," he said.
Diplomatic efforts intensified as Arab leaders gathered to pressure the United Nations Security Council for a binding statement calling for an end to the fighting.
The council will meet today for the fourth discussion of the conflict, which has claimed the lives of almost 570 Palestinians and injured nearly 2700.
Mr Maliki and other Arab leaders met the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and the president of the Security Council yesterday in preparation for a decisive vote.
Previous peace bids through the council have been blocked by the United States, Israel's most powerful ally.
The US President, George Bush, yesterday said that while a ceasefire was a noble goal, it should not come at the cost of continuing to allow Hamas to attack Israel from Gaza.
"Instead of caring about the people of Gaza, Hamas decided to use Gaza to launch rockets to kill innocent Israelis. And Israel has obviously decided to protect herself and her people," Mr Bush said on Monday. "All of us, of course, would like to see violence stopped - but not [with] an agreement that does not prevent the crisis from happening again."
Mr Ban, who is due to meet Mr Bush today, said he would emphasise the need for a quick end to the violence.
But after a meeting with Arab representatives late yesterday, the US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, warned against "false expectations" of a quick solution.
The US has said previous UN attempts to intervene paid too little attention to rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas militants.
Mr Khalilzad said any resolution was dependent on lasting practical arrangements that may take time to implement.
Mr Maliki said that up to nine Arab foreign ministers, the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, would meet tomorrow to demonstrate Arab unity on Gaza.
Mr Moussa said Israel's action was a "naked aggression" against the general population of Gaza.
