An official close to the Arab economic summit, scheduled to open here on Monday, has said the first-ever summit will discuss the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian Gaza Strip as a "topic of consensus, not difference," the local Al Watan Daily website reported on Friday.
"The incidents unfolding in the Gaza Strip were a topic of consensus, not difference that will be on the agenda of the upcoming Arab Economic, Development and Social Summit," Kuwait's Minister of Information Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah told reporters Thursday after inspecting the summit's information center in the Kuwaiti capital, the report said.
He said the Arab leaders are unanimous on the importance of putting an end to the tragedy in Gaza, though they could differ on the means of achieving it, reported Xinhua.
He added that the upcoming summit will definitely highlight the necessity of support for Gaza both in political and economic aspects, saying a proposal of funding the reconstruction of Gaza after the conflict would be discussed at the Arab foreign ministers meeting on early Friday.
The report also quoted the Arab League Assistant Secretary- General Mohammed Subaih as saying that the Arab foreign ministers meeting is set to work out an urgent plan to save the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip, based on political, economic and humanitarian aspects, and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa had consulted with Arab foreign ministers to map out an effective blueprint to put forward to the following Kuwait summit.
According to Subaih, the political aspects of the plan " provides for ceasing the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, lifting the siege and finding relevant implementation mechanisms," while the economic and humanitarian aspects "supplying more relief aid to the Gazans and a plan for the reconstruction of the coastal enclave."
The two-day Kuwait summit is the first for the 22-member Arab League to exclusively devote to Arab economic, development and social matters, attended by heads of state together with politicians, businessmen and intellectuals.
Following the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, the Gaza issue is expected to top the agenda of the summit, with leaders to review the latest developments in the Palestinian enclave, and to find a solution to end the Israeli attacks which began on Dec. 27, 2008, killing over 1,077 Palestinians so far and wounding some 5, 000 others.