Farouk Kadoumi: A summit for the 'band' countries is needed to discuss Jerusalem

Farouk Kadoumi, head of the political department of the Palestinian Liberation Organization demanded convening a five-fold summit for the band countries (Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon) to discuss the refugees' issue and preparing for convening the comprehensive Arab summit.

In declaration to the Arabic News, Kadoumi said "a bilateral summit between the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the Syrian President Bashar El-Asad is not only needed but a five fold summit comprising heads of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and the Jordanian monarch is needed to avoid saying that Syria and Palestine are the only ones to solve the refugees cause and that the five fold summit will remove a lot of sensitivities confronting the comprehensive Arab summit and to remove the gap among the countries that was caused by the Gulf War."

He clarified that the Palestinian - Syrian relations now are good for that they were tense when the Palestinian negotiators in Oslo unilaterally handled the secret negotiations with Israel and that this caused tension in the relations yet a Syrian participation in solving the refugees cause is needed especially after reaching the central issues of the Palestinian cause.

Kadoumi urged on convening a summit comprising the Arab and the Islamic countries as well as the Vatican to discuss Jerusalem's cause to support the Palestinian rule over Jerusalem.