Saudi king announces billion dollar donation for Gaza reconstruction

Fares Abdulla
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-01-30

Saudi monarch King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz told Arab leaders at the Kuwait Economic Summit that his country will donate US$1 billion to reconstruct the Gaza Strip

Saudi monarch King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz told Arab leaders at the Kuwait Economic Summit that his country will donate US$1 billion to reconstruct the Gaza Strip. His plan, which was tabled at the Kuwait Summit on Jan. 19, also sought contributions from participating states to help Gaza recover from the recent devastating three-week war.

In his address to the opening session of the Summit, King Abdullah said that the riches of the earth are not worth one drop of Palestinian blood. Political differences, he said, have divided and separated Arabs and dismantled their affairs, and these differences have served only to help those whose aim was to shatter Arab ranks.

On the margins of the Summit, King Abdullah hosted a mini-summit at his guest quarters with a dual objective of achieving reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Syria on the one hand, and between Egypt and Qatar on the other. The meeting was facilitated by the emir of Kuwait and brought together emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani, King Abdallah of Jordan, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria.

The Saudi monarch’s Gaza initiative was broadly welcomed and Palestinian sources emphasized that the substance of the address was significant. It incorporated initiatives aimed at closing Arab ranks, ending differences and fostering cooperation among all Arabs and restoring national unity to the Palestinians by forming a united front in dealing with the fallout from the Gaza war with Arabs to stand united in their support of that effort.

The speech and initiative were welcomed throughout the Gulf region, with chairman of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdel Rahman Al-Attia calling it “historic,” adding that it broke new ground in the realm of joint Arab action. He said that the Kingdom’s contribution of US$1 billion to the reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip would cover approximately half of the losses caused by the war which to date, some say has reached US$1.9 billion.

[KUNA (Kuwait news agency)]

Bookmarking

Please comment on this article so that we can improve the experience of viewing this website.