Afro-Arab Summit kicks off in Kuwait

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah launched the third Afro-Arab Summit in the capital Kuwait City on Tuesday morning.

Leaders of 41 countries from Africa and the Arab world listened to al-Sabah's inaugural address along with 61 foreign ministers and some 300 journalists. Representatives of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization FAO were also present.

The Emir opened the summit with a pledge to provide $1 bln in low-interest loans to African countries over the next half-decade, and the focus of the two-day meeting will be economic and development issues.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas attended the inauguration along with Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki, PLO official Saeb Erekat, Ambassador to Tunisia Suleiman al-Harfi, Ambassador to Ethiopia Zuheir al-Shan, and other Palestinian officials. 

Abbas is also accompanied by a delegation of Palestinian journalists.

"Palestine is very strongly represented in this summit and there will be a special statement about Palestine and Jerusalem at the end," Abbas told a Ma'an reporter. 

This year's is the third Afro-Arab Summit ever. The last summit was held in Libya in 2010, before a 2011 revolution unseated former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.