King lauds Palestinian unity

P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

EDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday congratulated Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for his success in achieving reconciliation between Palestinian factions. He also called on people all over the world to end their differences through dialogue and promote peace.

“I am extremely pleased over the news that Your Excellency and our brothers in the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Palestinian factions have reached a sound method for reconciliation,” King Abdullah said in a message to President Mubarak.

He said the methodology adopted to settle conflicts among the Palestinian groups would be in the interests of the Palestinians as well as Arab and Islamic nations. He praised Mubarak for his determination to find a solution to the conflict.

“I seize this opportunity to commend my brothers in the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, in Hamas and all Palestinian factions, without exception, on this achievement,” the message said, adding that it was achieved as a result of their strong faith in God and unity.

The king’s message came after a dozen Palestinian groups, who met in Cairo on Thursday, laid out a plan to tackle key issues to settle their differences and strengthen unity. They said the dialogue would lead to the formation of a national unity government.

King Abdullah emphasized the importance of using sound reasoning to overcome Satan’s temptations. “It is time that they say to the Arab and Islamic nations and the whole world that they are far away from disagreement and are capable of reconciliation,” King Abdullah told the Palestinian leaders.

He urged the Palestinians to stand united like a concrete structure inspired by the message of God. “And hold fast, altogether, by the rope which God (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude God’s favor on you; for you were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace you became brethren,” he said quoting a Qur’anic verse.

“We convey to them all our love and the happiness of their brothers in Saudi Arabia ... All should unite to reach a final solution that will take us to new horizons of our joint Arab march,” the message said, emphasizing the roles of wisdom and reason in ending conflicts.

King Abdullah called also on world leaders to settle conflicts and differences among peoples through dialogue, good reasoning and wisdom, getting inspiration from the message of God and teachings of His Prophets (peace be upon them). “These teachings call for the dominance of dialogue over discord, logic over whims, and reason over ignorance. They do not exclude anyone, and indeed they are directed to all humanity,” he said. “We hope that this call will find its repercussions all over the world so that peoples will unite on a message that renounces evil, fights crime and terrorism, and promotes love and tolerance so that humanity awakens to witness a bright future enjoying safety, security, peace and coexistence between nations and peoples,” the king said.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, meanwhile, toured the war-shattered Gaza Strip yesterday, his first such trip since Hamas seized power in the Palestinian territory in June 2007.

“I came to Gaza to see for myself the situation and the destruction and to show the solidarity to the good people of Gaza who have suffered so much,” he said at a news conference.

“I wanted to see with my eyes the level of destruction,” he said of the devastation wrought by Israel’s 22-day military offensive that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians. He viewed the ruins of the American International School and the wasteland of Ezbet Abed Rabbo, where scores of Palestinians huddle in shanties erected on mounds of rubble that used to be their homes.

His visit came ahead of an international conference in Egypt on the rebuilding of Gaza. “I hope the meeting that will take place on Monday will be a good meeting with good consequences for people here,” said Solana. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere was on a similar visit to Gaza yesterday, touring areas hard hit by the Israeli offensive that ended Jan. 18. Neither Solana nor Stoere met any representative of Hamas, which the European Union, Israel and the United States consider a terrorist organization.

The European Commission announced yesterday it would donate 436 million euros ($553 million) in aid to Gaza at the Cairo conference. “By offering a substantial aid package we confirm our generosity and commitment toward the Palestinians,” EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement in Brussels.