CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers convened in Cairo Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss Israel s devastating raids in the Gaza Strip, an AFP correspondent reported.
The meeting was convened at Lebanon s request to discuss the current situation in the Palestinian territories and the escalation of Israel s aggression against the Palestinian people, especially the Beit Hanun massacre.
On Wednesday, an Israeli artillery strike on the northern Gaza Strip town killed 19 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Eleven Arab foreign ministers were attending the meeting, held behind closed doors at the 22-member regional body s headquarters in the Egyptian capital.
The ministers and other representatives were due to discuss a response to the draft UN Security Council resolution which was vetoed Saturday by the United States.
The text would have condemned the deadly Israeli raid on Beit Hanun as well as Palestinian rocket firing from the area, but Washington dismissed it as biased, sparking the fury of Arab states.
The Cairo meeting was expected to discuss another draft resolution, this time to be submitted to the UN General Assembly – where vetoes do not apply.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa earlier Sunday slammed the US veto, charging that it hammered the final nail into the coffin of the Middle East peace process.
This sends a message that causes us great sorrow and anger. The message was well received, and it tells us that the peace process is completely dead, Mussa told reporters.
One of the most notable absentees Sunday was Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh, who on Saturday submitted his resignation along with all four other Shiite ministers in the Beirut cabinet.
Meanwhile, Palestinian foreign minister Mahmud Zahar was taking part in his first meeting of top Arab diplomats since elections swept his radical Hamas movement to power in March.
