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Kuwait summit to probe Gaza crisis - FM

(With photos) CAIRO, Jan 17 (KUNA) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit affirmed on Saturday the Arab Economic, Social and Development Summit, to be held in Kuwait on Monday and Tuesday, will probe the situation in Gaza Strip.
"As part of the summit a plenary session will focus on how to end the tragedy of Gaza and form a common Arab stance on support for the Palestinian people," Abul-Gheit said in a joint press conference with his Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg here.
"The summit will mull a lot of suggestions which have been raised by meetings of Arab foreign ministers in Egypt in late December and in Kuwait on Friday," the minister revealed.
Friday's meeting in Kuwait reachied unanimous support for the Egyptian intiative for ceasefire in Gaza, he said.
As for the bid to achive national reconciliation among the Palestinians, Abul-Gheit said the Arab countries rely on Egypt's efforts to restore the Paletinian national unity.
In view of the dramatic developments in the Middle East due to the three-week Israeli aggression on Gaza, Doha hosted on Friday an Arab summit which called for severing all Arab-Israeli ties, cancellation of the Arab peace initiative and freezing the normalization of Arab relations with Israel.
Asked about the recommendations of the Doha summit, Abul-Gheit said they were raised by some Arab foreign ministers during Friday's meeting in Kuwait but no agreement has been reached so far as per the cancellation of the intitiative.
Ruling out the possibility of severing Egypt's ties with Israel, the minister said his country, as well as Jordan, serve as "windows" for the Palestinian people, thereby the ties are helpful for the Palestinians themselves.
For his part Schwarzenberg, now on the second tour of the Middle East within two weeks, said he held talks with Abul-Gheit about the curent developments and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The Palestinian citizens in Gaza had to smuggle foodstuffs and medicines due to the long-standing blockade of border crossings of the tiny enclave, he pointed out.
The Czeck Republic took the helm of the rotatory six-month European Union presidency earlier this month.
Asked about EU's stance on the alleged weapon smuggling into Gaza, Schwarzenberg said he did not visit Sinai before so he could not assess the situation on the border.
But it is no secret that Gazans were forced to smuggle staples, medicines and other commodities through the borders, he revealed.
On January 4-6, the Czech foreign minister led an EU Troika delegation on a tour that took them to Egypt, Israel, Palestine and Jordan. (end) nwr.ez.gb KUNA 172149 Jan 09NNNN