Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Thursday that the next few hours will be decisive for talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza war. (AFP/Abbas Momani)From Financial Times:
A row over the venue for an Arab summit to discuss Israel’s offensive on Gaza is threatening to deepen Arab divisions and to complicate Egyptian efforts to secure a ceasefire.
Fourteen Arab countries have accepted a Qatari invitation to an emergency summit on Friday, but regional heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia have refused.
In an apparent effort to prempt the Qatari meeting Saudi Arabia called on Wednesday for an emergency Gulf summit on Gaza to be held on Thursday in Riyadh, further aggravating the general impression of Arab disarray.
Egypt and Saudi - both American allies - have been resisting pressure for such a gathering from Qatar and Syria since the start of the offensive almost three weeks ago. Egypt has said on Tuesday that an Arab League economic summit to be held in Kuwait next week would provide a suitable opportunity to discuss Gaza.
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