Kuwaiti emir regrets widening inter-Arab dispute

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah expressed regret for the widening disputes among Arab countries, saying the Syrian crisis was threatening internationl security. Addressing the 25th Arab summit, His Highness Sheikh Sabah said disputes in the Arab world were widening and undermining "our existence, values, hopes and aspirations, and we have become preoccupied with them at the expence of our ability to confront the challenges." He called for "an honest stance to achieve unity" among the Arab countries. "We should address these differences and unite and to work together to overcome the disputes," asserted His Highness the Amir. He added that "we cannot go ahead with our common Arab action with our differences loaming in the horizons ... (which are) wasting our time." His Highness the Amir said the space of agreement among the Arab countries is larger than the space of differences. He meanwhile said the Syrian crisis, which was entering its fourth year, has been claiming tens of thousands of innocent people, destroying every sign of life and displacing around half of the Syrian population. His Highness Sheikh Sabah cited a report by UNICEF which noted that the Syrian conflict forced displacement of 5.5 million children, three million children were not going to school and the mortality rate among children was the highest among any other conflict "in our present time. "We are before a painful reality, and humanitarian, moral and legal crisis, and condemnation will not be enough ...," he said. His Highness the Amir said the conflict in Syria spelled over beyond the Syrian borders and became a threat to the security of the world. "We reiterate our call on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to live up to its responsibility to restore international peace and security, and to end this crisis," he said. "We feel the suffering of our brothers (in Syria) and work hard to alleviate their suffering," he said. His Highness the Amir said Kuwait answered UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's calls and hosted two donors' conferences for the Syrian people, which succeeded in collecting USD four billion in pledges for the Syrians. Kuwait "succeeded in achieving the objective of the conferences, to contribute to alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people," he said. Kuwait, said His Highness the Amir, have transferred all its pledges to the UN agencies to use to in the provision of necessary aid for the Syrian people.