A delay in the Arab League emergency summit session scheduled for Sunday to draft a common position of Arab states on the current Gaza massacre was announced late Saturday by Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told reporters the meeting was postponed till Wednesday because many Arab ministers were busy in separate meetings of two Arab regional groups — the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Maghreb Union.
"The time worries us very much because of the delay in holding the ministerial meeting but we will not remain silent and consultations are continuing," he added.
He said that the Secretariat was awaiting responses on the Arab countries call for an emergency Arab summit session, which requires approval by two-thirds of the Member States in accordance with the Charter of the University and regulations.
He also added that the Secretariat will prepare for an Arab summit as soon as it receives Arab states’ confirmation to attend Wednesday’s meeting.
Earlier on Saturday Arab League officials said the ministerial meeting would take place on Sunday evening.
Moussa said he would present to the ministers a request from Qatar and Syria that the Arabs hold a summit meeting, and the ministers would decide on the proposal.
Relentless Massacre
Palestinian blood flows through the streets of Gaza as Israel continues its massacre
Meanwhile, Israel continues an unrelenting military assault it calls "Solid Lead" in the Gaza Strip, raising the Palestinian death toll to 271 while wounding 620 in less than 24 hours since the start of the air strike.
The army did not set a timeframe but the mayor of Ashkelon, an Israeli city in range of Hamas’s rockets, said military planners saw the operation lasting "more than a week".
Militants in the Gaza Strip, who have launched dozens of rocket attacks against Israel since a truce expired just over a week ago, fired more salvoes that killed one Israeli man and wounded several others.
Both sides said they were ready to stage wider assaults, threatening to plunge the region into a crisis that could leave stalled talks over Palestinian statehood in tatters.
(Alarabiya.net and news agencies)
