Morocco says King will not attend Gaza summit
RABAT, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Morocco's King Mohammed will not attend Arab summits on Israel's offensive in Gaza because they will not do much to help the Palestinian people, the Moroccan cabinet said in a statement published on Thursday.
Such meetings bring out rivalries between Arab states and are used by some as an opportunity to appear before the media, trivialising the issue at stake, the Moroccan cabinet said in a statement carried by the official news agency MAP.
"It is distressing that these underlying disagreements tend to push the crucial interests of the (Arab) nation into the background, especially the Palestinian cause," the statement said.
The Arab League said late on Wednesday there was no quorum to convene a summit in Qatar, highlighting splits between Arab countries over how to react to Israel's Gaza offensive.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which both oppose the Hamas group that rules Gaza, want to discuss the matter at a Jan. 19-20 Arab Economic Summit in Kuwait rather than at a Qatar meeting. (Reporting by Tom Pfeiffer; editing by Michael Roddy)
Such meetings bring out rivalries between Arab states and are used by some as an opportunity to appear before the media, trivialising the issue at stake, the Moroccan cabinet said in a statement carried by the official news agency MAP.
"It is distressing that these underlying disagreements tend to push the crucial interests of the (Arab) nation into the background, especially the Palestinian cause," the statement said.
The Arab League said late on Wednesday there was no quorum to convene a summit in Qatar, highlighting splits between Arab countries over how to react to Israel's Gaza offensive.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which both oppose the Hamas group that rules Gaza, want to discuss the matter at a Jan. 19-20 Arab Economic Summit in Kuwait rather than at a Qatar meeting. (Reporting by Tom Pfeiffer; editing by Michael Roddy)
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