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Last update - 15:50 30/03/2009
Arab League chief: Israel's policies border on 'madness'
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: arab league, israel news 

Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, speaking at the Arab League summit in Doha on Monday, said Israel's military policies were nearing "madness."

The Israel Defense Forces' operation in the Gaza Strip in December and
January were marked by "arrogance and recklessness," Mussa told Arab
l
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eaders gathered in Doha.

"The deliberate targeting of civilians is just one example of how the Israeli military's ideology is nearing madness," Mussa said.

The Arab League's secretary general further called for Israeli soldiers to be held accountable for what he said were war crimes committed during Israel's 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip in late December and January.

Arab leaders in Qatar for the Arab League summit sent Israel an ultimatum Sunday: Accept the Saudi Peace Initiative or it will be rescinded.

The draft proposal of the statement states: "The peace initiative being proposed today will not be on offer for a long time. Arab commitment to this initiative is dependent on Israeli acceptance."

The draft proposal was formulated by the Arab foreign ministers, and was presented to the Arab League's leaders Monday for approval.

The wording is a compromise between the hardline Arab countries, mainly Syria and Qatar, and the moderates, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Egypt is to be represented at the summit by a very low-level official after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit declined to participate, reportedly due to anger at Qatar for making overtures to Hamas. Egypt has demanded Qatar not invite Iranian President Mohammed Ahmadinejad to the summit, and stop its criticism of Egypt on the Al-Jazeera network, which began after Operation Cast Lead.

Most reports over the past week indicated that Ahmadinejad would not come to the summit, although he could still show up by surprise.

Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, arrived in Qatar on Sunday despite a warrant for his arrest issued by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, on charges of involvement in the massacre of his countrymen in Darfur.

Palestinian Authority sources said they hoped the summit would not widen the breach among Palestinians, and called on Arab leaders to support the PLO and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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      1.   Madness is rolling out the red carpet for Sudan 15:56  |  Richard S 30/03/09
      2.   "Israel`s policies border on `madness` " 16:02  |  Translating arabic 30/03/09
      3.   Amr Moussa`s madness 16:06  |  DT 30/03/09
      4.   THE AMAZING ARAB LEAGUE 16:13  |  Brant 30/03/09
      5.   Madness should be a word reserved for Hamas 16:35  |  JO 30/03/09
      6.   Haaretz please take responsibility for the mess 16:41  |  Concernced Citizen 30/03/09
      7.   last opportunity for zionists to act in reason 16:41  |  Leon Rosgarten 30/03/09
      8.   Mental Illness? 16:42  |  Gully Foyle 30/03/09
      9.   civilians were not targetted 16:58  |  Paul Freedman 30/03/09
      10.   If Haaretz wont do it, 17:15  |  Sceptic 30/03/09
      11.   Finger pointing at Israel, hand dripping with Sudanese blood 17:20  |  Realist 30/03/09
      12.   How the Arabs define Chutzpah 17:22  |  Ben 30/03/09
      13.   Moussa needs medication...the Arab Leaguse needs to get real 17:23  |  r 30/03/09
      14.   # 1 - another arabioc translation 17:26  |  Mongo 30/03/09
      15.   IRON FIST POLICY AND ROGUE STATES 17:32  |  Jim the mechanic 30/03/09
      16.   Moussa is clearly a mad liar and hater. Defends Sudan 17:45  |  EgyptJewRefugee 30/03/09
      17.   Moussa silent on Darfur. 300,000 slaughtered 17:47  |  Elly 30/03/09
      18.   Amr Moussa being far too cautious with his words.... 18:10  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/03/09
      19.   Same old story, Israel must do nothing in face of attacks 18:16  |  Conroy 30/03/09
      20.   Amr Mussa is way out of line 18:18  |  magna 30/03/09
      21.   ARAB LEAGUE`S CANNONS 18:22  |  JOHN ISH ISHMAEL 30/03/09
      22.   Israel needs to stand firm and look out for its own interests... 18:35  |  Jean Van Daem 30/03/09
      23.   Madness 18:40  |  Ze 30/03/09
      24.   Darfur 18:42  |  Alon 30/03/09
      25.   Mad Are We? 18:44  |  Jeff Northridge 30/03/09
      26.   The Israel Defense Forces` operation in the Gaza Strip in Decembe 18:45  |  Joshua 30/03/09
      27.   Qatar hosts wanted war criminal...? 18:53  |  Stephen. 30/03/09
      28.   To Swiss (Dino # 9)...The "neutral" bigot. 19:09  |  flyingdoc57 30/03/09
      29.   Hmmm 19:10  |  Daniel 30/03/09
      30.   Islam is madness 19:19  |  real vision 30/03/09
      31.   arabs/palestinian madness makes israel seem like saints 19:23  |  zev 30/03/09
      32.   arab league and ban ki moon 19:30  |  roger 30/03/09
      33.   Then we`ll take "never" 19:42  |  David Teich 30/03/09
      34.   Gully Foyle # 5 yours is best comment so far. 20:33  |  American in NY 30/03/09
      35.   seemingly totally irrational may be more appropriate 20:41  |  dubi shoohada 30/03/09
      36.   Finger pointing at Israel, hand dripping with Sudanese blood 21:48  |  Realist 30/03/09
      37.   Arab League vs Israel - Help me please! 21:54  |  tad chase 30/03/09
      38.   Gully Foyle # 5 21:57  |  David 30/03/09
      39.   Yo #5 Foyle 21:59  |  tad chase 30/03/09
      40.   Arab league is like the UN: IRRELEVANT 22:55  |  BF 30/03/09
      41.   Arab League`s crocodile tears 01:38  |  peter 31/03/09
      42.   The real traslation is wake up and start acting human 01:48  |  gus 31/03/09
      43.   This useless Amr Mussa is insan ! 02:42  |  Akram Zekaria 31/03/09
      44.   Moussa in his own words supports the genocidal Sudanese leader 03:01  |  Ken Juriist 31/03/09
      45.   Israeli madness and Arab sanity 03:19  |  Shmendrik Nashashibi 31/03/09
      46.   IDF is realy mad 04:17  |  Bruce 31/03/09
      47.   So sorry, guys, but he is right 05:07  |  Johnboy 31/03/09
      48.   This American already has Johnboy... 05:51  |  BBSNews 31/03/09
      49.   Get a life Johnboy 09:25  |  Just an Israeli 31/03/09
      50.   Let Israel offer its alternative plan 13:06  |  Danny 31/03/09
      51.   Danny you just saw Israel`s plan. 14:01  |  petra 31/03/09
      52.   Ken Jurist, quite right, excellent. 14:02  |  petra 31/03/09
      53.   The world joins the Arab League Chief in his outrage 15:59  |  Dutch 31/03/09
      54.   madness 18:26  |  Jacques 31/03/09
      55.   Trying my luck the 2nd time ! 19:34  |  Akram Zekaria 31/03/09
      56.   Israel madness vs Arab madneSSES 20:39  |  Dwido 31/03/09
      57.   Arab League MADNESS ! 22:05  |  Dennis 31/03/09
      58.   ARAB LEAGUE CHIEF 23:03  |  David 31/03/09
      59.   56 Re: Israel`s madness is beyond the pale.... 00:50  |  Dutch 01/04/09
      60.   53: Again, Dutch openly shows her support for war (2nd try) 00:02  |  David Teich 06/04/09
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