Moussa: Israel has no place among us
Photo: AFP
Erdogan: Jerusalem not Israel's capital
Photo: AP
Muammar Gaddafi, host of summit
Photo: Reuters
Arab League inches towards Iran
At summit held in Libya Amr Moussa warns against 'Israeli nuclear threat', says peace process may turn out to be 'complete failure' and suggests dialogue with Tehran. Turkey's Erdogan slams Israel's 'aggression in Jerusalem'
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Arab states would not accept "Israel's aggression in Jerusalem and the holy sites – unconditionally".
Speaking at an Arab League summit held in the Libyan town of Sirte, Erdogan criticized the government's decision to approve more housing units in east Jerusalem.
Iran on Jerusalem
Foreign Minister Mottaki says, 'Expansion of Israeli settlements, destruction of Islamic and Christian sites and wide-scale construction of new synagogues show the Zionist plans to accelerate Judaization of east Jerusalem'
"The Israeli interior minister says Jerusalem is the capital, but this is crazy. We are not obliged to accept this. The construction in east Jerusalem is unacceptable and unjustifiable," Erdogan said.
He mentioned the Mideast Quartet's condemnation of the construction and added, "Israel is not only violating international law but also the laws of emotion and conscience. Inflaming tensions in Jerusalem means inflaming tensions in Palestine and the entire Middle East."
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa warned against the "Israeli nuclear threat" and called for the improving of relations with Iran.
"We have to open a dialogue with Iran. I know there is a worry among Arabs regarding Iran but this situation confirms the necessity of a dialogue with Iran," he said.
Moussa also proposed establishing a Mideast bloc which would include Turkey but not Israel. "Israel does not have a place among us as long as it considers itself above the law," he said to a raging round of applause.
Moussa said the peace process with the Palestinians had reached a turning point and that it was time for Arab states to stand up to Israel.
"We have to study the possibility that the peace process will be a complete failure," Moussa said. "It's time to face Israel. We have to have alternative plans because the situation has reached a turning point," he said.
"The peace process has entered a new stage, perhaps the last stage. We have accepted the efforts of mediators. We have accepted an open-ended peace process but that resulted in a loss of time and we did not achieve anything and allowed Israel to practice its policy for 20 years."
The 22nd summit was attended by just 13 of 22 leaders of Arab states. It was hosted by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Gaddafi, who is taking over the Arab League's rotating presidency, used his speech at the summit to castigate what he said was years of failure by Arab states to take strong collective action in standing up to Israel.
