DOHA: A body of Muslim scholars announced in Qatar on Saturday it will start a round of visits to Arab leaders, seeking action to end the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

The delegation from the International Union of Muslim Scholars led by influential Sunni cleric Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi will ask Arab leaders to cut diplomatic and economic ties with Israel and to use all their powers to stop the aggression, the union said in a statement.

On Saturday the scholars met Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and next week they plan to meet Saudi King Abdullah II and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. They also plan to visit Egypt, Jordan and Turkey.

They are calling for "halting the (Israeli) aggression, lifting the cruel blockade, and the speedy delivery of humanitarian and medical aid," the statement said.

The scholars called on Arab leaders to work on reconciliation of the Palestinian factions and to hold Arab and Islamic emergency summits to deal with the situation. –AFP