Ayatollah Fadlallah calls for cooperation between Iran, Turkey and Egypt

 
Source: AFP/Daily Star, 12-01-2009

BEIRUT: Leading Shiite cleric Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah on Sunday called for cooperation between "the three Islamic poles" of Iran, Egypt and Turkey to create balance in the region.
"It is possible to correct the military and political imbalance in the region on the basis of which the [‘Israeli'] enemy waves its military and security machinery in the face of the Arabs," Fadlallah said in a statement sent to AFP which added: "This is through Islamic cooperation between three essential poles in the region and they are Iran, Turkey and Egypt."

Fadlallah said that "Israel's" offensive on the Gaza Strip amounted to an attack on Arab and Islamic liberation movements as a whole.
"We had wanted and still hope for an active Arab role in the Palestinian question and in the region as a whole," he added.

"However, many of the Arab rulers themselves turned down a role of that size," he said in reference to the failure of Arab states to hold a summit because some states, were not in favor of such a move.
Since the "Israeli" offensive began on December 27, at least 885 people have been killed, including 270 children, and another 3,490 wounded, according to Gaza medics.

Meanwhile, President Michel Suleiman said over the weekend that "history had not seen uglier crimes than those being committed by ‘Israel' in the Gaza Strip."
Sleiman said "Israel" should start by implementing the cease-fire called for by Security Council Resolution 1860.
"‘Israel' should take the first step ... It should end its aggression and withdraw from the Gaza Strip ... ‘Israel' is the invading power here and the Palestinians are only defending themselves," he said.