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Arab League chief Amr Moussa (AP) Last update - 18:45 05/03/2008 Arab League condemns IDF Gaza operation as 'crime against humanity' By Reuters Tags: israel, gaza, war crimes  The Arab League on Wednesday condemned Israel Defense Forces attacks on the Gaza Strip, calling them "crimes against humanity". Arab foreign ministers said they "strongly condemn the barbaric crimes that the Israeli occupation forces committed in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories". Meeting to prepare for an Arab summit in Syria this month that is expected to focus on Gaza and Lebanon, the ministers said in a statement they were "recording these Israeli crimes as crimes of war and crimes against humanity". Advertisement Israel ended a five-day Gaza military offensive on Monday in which over 100 Palestinians and two IDF troops were killed. It has threatened to send troops back to the Hamas-run coastal territory if cross-border rocket attacks continue. Dozens of Qassam rockets fired at the western Negev town of Sderot and surrounding communities have killed three Israelis and wounded many more during the past weeks. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said: "The criminal aggression against Gaza shows that Israeli policy against the Palestinian people is based on genocide and ethnic cleansing." U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to resume peace talks, but did not specify a date. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who froze negotiations on Sunday in protest at the Gaza attacks, said talks could not get underway until Israel reached a ceasefire with Gaza militants behind the rocket attacks, but later retracted this condition. In Cairo, the Arab ministers called on Palestinians to end internal divisions. Islamist Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas's Fatah faction in June. The March 29-30 Arab summit in Damascus is expected also to deal with the political deadlock in Lebanon, which has been without a president since November due to a power struggle between the Western-backed government and pro-Syria opposition. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said in Cairo that Lebanon and Saudi Arabia would be invited to attend the summit. Syria has already invited all other Arab League members, politicians say. Syria has strained ties with the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and had said it would wait until Lebanon elected a new president before inviting Beirut and Riyadh to the summit. The Lebanese presidential vote has been postponed 15 times since September. The election is now due on March 11. Egyptian state news agency MENA reported Moallem, speaking late on Tuesday, said "if a Lebanese president is not elected before the Arab summit, then Lebanon will choose who will represent it". Moallem would not be drawn on to whom the Lebanon invitation would be sent. Political sources said the Syrians would like someone other than Siniora to attend. A Lebanese official said Siniora might not go if many Arab leaders stayed away. Diplomats in the region say they expect the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as Jordan, to stay away unless Lebanon elected a president by then. Syria expects at least 12 of 22 heads of state to attend, including those of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya as well as the Palestinian president. Saudi Arabia's relations with Syria deteriorated after the 2005 assassination of its main Lebanese ally, former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Many in Lebanon and the Arab world blamed Syria for the killing. Damascus denies any involvement. Related articles: Arab League chief: Israeli policy is destroying peace process On Arab TV, the images from Gaza are of dead women and children ANALYSIS / Gaza raids met by loud silence from the Arab world Bookmark to del.icio.us   Devil's weed New campaign equates smoking pot with terrorism. Bad company A BBC poll says Israel world's most hated country after Iran.   1.   arab league is itself the crime against humanity. 18:48  |  frenz 05/03/08   2.   Arabs never condem their own crimes in Darfur 20:28  |  Abdul Aziz Higazi 05/03/08   3.   islam considers only muslems as humans the rest of us are not 20:54  |  ralph 05/03/08   4.   Poster boys for humanism NOT! 21:20  |  fiona 05/03/08   5.   ARAB LEAGUE IS RIGHT! 22:23  |  JH 05/03/08   6.   Hi Fiona 23:05  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 05/03/08   7.   RESPOND TO JH 00:27  |  TOBIA 06/03/08   8.   homocide bombers 00:31  |  vik 06/03/08   9.   Arab League Morality 01:01  |  Ron 06/03/08   10.   JH#4 ARE YOU GOING TO ABANDON YOUR HOME? 01:14  |  Ian 06/03/08   11.   when questioned on what they think of.. 01:14  |  amir 06/03/08   12.   JH, you`re lost in the woods 01:19  |  Polybios 06/03/08   13.   How come you waited so long Amr Moussa! 02:06  |  lakshmi 06/03/08   14.   Arab League condemns IDF Gaza operation as `crime against humanit 02:48  |  Hrold 06/03/08   15.   Arab League 16:38  |  Jozef 06/03/08   16.   AMNESTY INTNL ALL THOSE AGENCIES CAN GO TO HELL. 19:04  |  DANNY. 06/03/08   17.   TO RALPH. I HAVE 19:12  |  DANNY. 06/03/08   18.   HAARETZ. 19:18  |  DANNY. 06/03/08   19.   TO NO 4. FIONA 19:24  |  DANNY. 06/03/08   20.   #5. ARAB LEAGUE IS NOT RIGHT 00:06  |  RW 07/03/08

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