Amman - The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's largest political party, on Thursday rebuked Arab leaders who failed to accept Qatar's invitation for an emergency summit on Friday in Doha to look into steps against Israel for its prolonged offensive on the Gaza Strip.

The IAF charged in a statement that Arab leaders who were trying to block the Arab summit "were colluding with Israel and betraying the blood of hundreds of children and women" killed in the Israeli bombardment over the past 20 days.

The statement, alluded mainly to Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak and Saudi King Abdullah, who preferred to discuss the situation in Gaza in a consultation session on the fringes of the Arab Economic Summit due to open in Kuwait next week.

Jordan's King Abdullah II so far failed to accept Qatar's invitation despite an impassioned appeal to the monarch to attend from Jordanian editorialists and trade unionists.

The Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa said that 14 Arab countries so far agreed to attend the Doha emergency summit, which fell short of the required quorum of
15.

Qatar's ruler Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, who hosts the summit, has complained that pressure was put on Morocco and the United Arab Emirates to withdraw their agreements to attend in a bid to foil the convening of the conference. (dpa)