Jordan will host the Arab Summit starting on Tuesday in Amman (Reuters)

	Islamic Development Bank

As the Arab Summit prepared to convene in Amman on Tuesday, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat repeated his call on Arab countries to provide the Palestinians with financial aid and again asked for an international protection force to be sent to the region. Speaking to the press on Saturday, Arafat said the Summit "is being held during a difficult time, especially for the Palestinian people, who face a dangerous military escalation on our towns and villages."

Arafat's statement came as Palestinian spokespeople stepped up their rhetoric against Israel ahead of this week's Arab Summit in Amman, Jordan.

Farouk Kaddoumi, head of the political department of the

"They have no right to preach clean government to the Palestinian Authority" - MK Ahmad Tibi

PLO, warned that an Israeli invasion of Gaza and the West Bank is not far-fetched under the new government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "With impudent Sharon in power a real danger looms, requiring Arabs to show steadfastness and solidarity in order to deter any sinful aggressor," he said.

With most major world news sources reporting that the Iraq debate would dominate the summit, Palestinian spokespeople have been doing their best to place the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the top of the agenda.

In Israel, Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi (Arab Movement for Renewal) accused the leaders of Arab states of ignoring the suffering of the Palestinian people. "When we are talking about the transfer of one billion dollars, and only tens of millions actually arrive, this should be a Mark of Cain on all the leaders of the Arab states who see the suffering of the Palestinian people and don't do anything," Tibi said.

Tibi's statement is in reference to the $1 billion aid package promised to the Palestinians at the last Arab summit in Cairo in October 2000, of which only a quarter has been deposited until now, much to the frustration of the Palestinian Authority.

According to Reuters, Arab leaders are likely to offer the Palestinian Authority a monthly infusion of $40 million to pay salaries and keep its institutions from crumbling in the next six months.

In an interview on Israel Army radio on Sunday, Tibi accused some of the Arab states of corruption, and said that in light of the missing millions "they have no moral right to preach clean government to the Palestinian Authority." According to Tibi, Arafat is going to demand the payment of the $1 billion promised to the PA at the Cairo Summit.

According to a Washington Post report, Arab governments have been slow to pay up because they are weary of corruption within the PA. Some Persian Gulf states, which had pledged aid to Arafat, remain resentful of Mr. Arafat's support for Iraq during the Gulf War. Kuwait expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinian residents after its war with Iraq.

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