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Arab leaders gather in Sudan over the next five days hoping to limit any shortfall in international aid to the Palestinians when the Islamist movement Hamas takes over the cabinet.
The United States and the European Union continue to make demands on Hamas, such as recognition of Israel and the renunciation of violence, but Arab diplomats take some comfort from promises that their financial aid to the Palestinians will continue.
Arab foreign ministers meet in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday and Sunday to prepare for the annual summit of the Arab League's 21 members next week. League Secretary-General Amr Moussa says he expects a large turnout of Arab leaders.
The kings and presidents would agree that the world should not penalise Palestinians for voting for Hamas, which Israel and the United States call a terrorist group, Arab diplomats said.
The diplomats said it was not yet clear to what extent the leaders would make specific commitments to compensate for any loss of funds to the budget of the Palestinian Authority, which has previously received a large Western subsidy.
Since Hamas won parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories in January, Arab governments have been telling the West that cutting off aid would lead to disaster.
"Our position is that the victory of Hamas was the result of a democratic process and so there should be no punishment for the Palestinian people," an Arab diplomat said.
"We have seen a retreat from some of the hasty reactions we saw in January. That's encouraging," he added.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Wednesday he had secured pledges of financial support during a tour of the Arab world and that Arab governments would give some numbers during the summit.
"So far there has been good commitment that needs to be translated into figures...I am sure that Arab and Islamic support will cover a large part of the Palestinians' needs. No matter what Israel does and how much pressure the United States applies, I do not think Arabs and Muslims will cave in."
The Arab diplomats said it was not clear whether the Arab governments would even go beyond previous financial commitments which they have often failed to fulfil.
Shi'ite Iran has injected an element of regional competition into the debate by saying it will meet any gap in official funding for the new government Hamas expects to form next week.
Arab peace plan
Arab governments have generally steered clear of the international campaign to persuade Hamas to change its attitude towards Israel, which it sees as a colonial power that has grabbed Palestinian land by military force.
An Arab official, who asked not to be identified, said Arab governments had no problem with what they saw as Hamas's basic position that it could respond only to Israeli initiatives.
Israel and the United States, on the other hand, see Hamas as an organisation that has carried out suicide bombings against civilians and wants to destroy the state of Israel.
A central document in the debate between Hamas and the Arab countries is the peace initiative adopted by an Arab summit in Beirut in 2002, offering normal relations with Israel in return for withdrawal to the 1967 borders. Israel rejects the offer.
"Arab leaders have asked Hamas to endorse the Beirut initiative and Hamas does not refuse it," an Arab League official said. "They (Hamas) say that if Israel starts to move, then we can start to move," he added.
On Iraq, the Arab summit will remind Iraqi politicians of their plan to take part in a second round of reconciliation talks under the auspices of the Arab League, to follow up on a meeting in November, two diplomats said.
"We are still working along the same lines of holding the reconciliation conference, possibly in June. Things have developed to the worse in Iraq, so there is even more reason to proceed," an Arab League official said.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said Iraqi politicians would prepare for another meeting in June in Iraq.
The agenda also includes the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region and disagreements between Syria and Lebanon.
Egypt has nominated Amr Moussa, an Egyptian, for another term as secretary-general of the Arab League and no goverment has proposed an alternative, a league official said.
