Moussa: Arab states will not allow striking Iraq

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said President Mubarak will take part in the Beirut summit. He said reports to this effect are baseless adding there were no reservations over the Saudi initiative.

Moussa told MENA the upcoming Arab summit in Beirut, will take a strong and firm stance regarding any measures to be taken to strike any Arab state.

He described the stance of the Arab nation as steadfast vis-a-vis this issue and they will never allow the striking of any Arab state, he emphasized.

Contacts among Arab leaders, ministers and officials with various world states have asserted that the Arab stance regarding national and fatal issues is a unified one, he added.

Moussa voiced belief that attending the summit at the level of heads of state will be intensive, pointing out that the participation of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is still unknown.

However, measures are being taken on both cases, he said.

Consultations are under way among the various parties and Arab leaders on the participation of Arafat, he said.

The summit will endorse the Palestinian people's right to resistance as long as the Israeli occupation is still on the ground, he said.

The summit will sanction the Saudi peace initiative of Crown prince Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz, he said, adding that the Arab nation and leaders have declared a genuine wish to realize peace. The continuation of occupation means the continuation of resistance, he said.

The new initiative could create a new atmosphere based on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territories which would put an end to exchanged violence and pave the way for a return to the table of negotiations, he said.

Support for the Palestinian cause also includes a financial aid worth $ 330 million over six months which started in December and will continue till June.

Another six-month aid will be sanctioned worth $ 55 million every month to the Palestinian Authority to endorse the Palestinian people's strife, he said.

He pointed out to $ 50 million offered by Libya directly to the Palestinian Authority.

The issue of Iraq and the "situation" between Iraq and Kuwait will also be tackled during the event, he said, adding that the review of the situation between them is based on the need to respect the regional sovereignty of both nations.

The agenda of the summit will also include international and regional relations, particularly Arab-African and Arab-European relations, he added.

Moussa asserted that the pan-Arab organization has taken several decisions making clear that Arabs oppose any strike against Iraq or any other Arab country.

Commenting on US Vice President Dick Cheney's recent Mideast tour, Moussa stressed that Iraq should not be targeted by any US military action.

There are political and diplomatic channels, he said, highlighting diplomatic contacts between Iraq and the UN, to be resumed in April.

The continuation of Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands means that resistance will go on, said Moussa, asserting that when the occupier withdraws the resistance will stop.

On the Kuwait-Iraq case, he asserted that the situation requires a collective Arab action to seal the rifts, underlining the importance of his absence on the underway dialogue on regulating Iraq's relations with the UN.

Taking up efforts exerted to secure Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's participation in the Arab summit and the possible repercussion of his absence on the Saudi peace initiative, Moussa said the latest reports indicate that Arafat will attend the summit.

"If he (Arafat) attends he will represent Palestine and if not we all will be representatives of Palestine," said the AL chief.

Regarding the participation of leader of the Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, Moussa expressed hope to see Gaddafi in Beirut.