Arab foreign ministers failed to reach a common stance on Gaza during a closed-door session Tuesday on the sidelines of the First Arab Economic Summit, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said.

Zebari told the Kuwait Television that the foreign ministers were "regrettably" unable to reach a common stance due to shortage of time "and the uncompromising stances taken by some countries," the Kuwait official news agency KUNA reported.

He said that some countries needed to make "compromises" in order to reach unified stance, adding that efforts would continue after the Arab Economic Summit to reach this unified position, said the report.

Arab leaders attending the summit have urged to map out practical steps to stabilize the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and devote aid to the reconstruction of the besieged coastal enclave which had been under Israeli onslaught for three weeks.

The first Arab economic summit convened in the Kuwaiti capital here Monday, centering on the situation in the Gaza Strip and calling for unity in the Arab world to resolve the Gaza crisis.

The high-level economic meeting was attended by 17 heads of state of the 22-member Arab League (AL), together with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, with a slogan of "In Solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza."

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2009)