Cleric urges Arab leaders to recruit volunteer fighters for Gaza

Jan 5, 2009, 12:48 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - A prominent Yemeni cleric on Monday called on Arab leaders to open camps for training volunteers to fight Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

'Allow your people to volunteer. Allow your people to carry out their duty. Open camps for volunteers,' Abdul-Majeed al-Zendani said in an address to a pro-Palestinian rally in Sana'a.

He said if training camps are opened in Arab countries, 'millions of youths would join.'

'Where are Arab defence ministers? Where are Arab and Muslim Armies?' al-Zendani questioned.

He warned that 'the nations would not accept falling behind during the serious crisis.'

Meanwhile, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on the Palestinian factions to join forces in the face of the Israeli 'savage aggression' on the Gaza Strip, Yemen's state news agency Saba reported.

Saleh made the call during a phone conversation with the head of Hamas politburo Khaled Meshaal, the agency said.

The Yemeni leader also 'praised the Palestinian people's heroic perseverance in the face of the Israeli barbaric attacks and arrogance.'

'Israel exploits the inter-Palestinian split and the weakness of the Arab and international ranks to press on in its aggression,' the agency quoted Saleh as saying.

On Friday, Saleh ordered a nation-wide fundraising campaign for the Palestinians, and ordered an urgent shipment of medical and food supplies to Gaza.

Last week, the Yemeni president called on his fellow Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit to discuss the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip.