Foreign Minister attends Arab emergency meeting

Cairo, Feb.8 (BNA): Foreign Minister, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani participated in the emergency meeting of the Arab League Council. Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry chaired the session, which was held today, 8 February 2021, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States following a joint Egyptian-Jordanian request to discuss regional developments. The Egyptian minister delivered an opening speech in which he said that our Arab world has faced many challenges during the past decade, addig that people in a number of Arab countries have suffered from the collapse of state institutions, ideological strife, intellectual and political divisions. He pointed out the emergence of terrorism and its organizations that took advantage of the political and security vacuum in some countries to destroy what remained of them, and finally the Coronavirus pandemic which swept across region and the entire world, adding more burdens and challenges to Arab economies and societies. He also added that the Palestinian Cause was and will remain in the “Arab conscience” heart, regardless of any disruption or slowdown in the negotiation process and despite unilateral Israeli practices and illegal settlement projects in the West Bank. He also underlined that Egypt has never spared any effort to support any efforts aimed at resolving the stalemate of the peace process for years, and this has been evident during the past period as Egypt has intensified its contacts and consultations with various regional and international actors. He added that Egypt has maintained its continuous and relentless efforts to end the Palestinian division and has not held back in providing all kinds of support and assistance to the Palestinian brothers to restore cohesion and rearrange Palestine. He stressed the importance of achieving Palestinian reconciliation which will positively reflect on the ability of the Palestinian people to conduct the negotiation process again and achieve its legitimate goals and ambitions. He underscored that the response of countries participating in today’s meeting, despite the circumstances, mirrors that Arab countries are united in preserving Arab national security and preserving Arab interests and the national state in our Arab world. He stressed the importance of affirming Arab solidarity and the ability of our countries to face challenges through unity and employment of common capabilities to confront any external threat targeting the stability of the Arab region. “Today’s meeting embodies a strong message and a starting point addressed to all actors in the Palestinian Cause, to emphasize the centrality of the Palestinian Cause in the Arab conscience and that we, as states, governments and peoples are united in order to reach a fair and just settlement that meets the aspirations of the Palestinian and Arab peoples to ensure stability and just and comprehensive peace in the region”, he said The meeting issued a resolution presented by the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which affirmed that Arab countries as a group under the umbrella of the League of Arab States defend common interests and Arab national security in the midst of various interactions and developments in the international arena. The statement stressed the importance of staving off pressures and interventions from regional and international powers to achieve the agendas and interests of these forces at the expense of Arab interests, and seeking to preserve the concept and logic of the state in order to secure the unity of peoples, away from the logic of division within Arab societies and emphasize the necessity of an effective collective Arab role in approaching regional challenges and efforts to resolve the crises plaguing the region. The resolution affirmed the centrality of the Palestinian issue to the Arab countries and reaffirmed the commitment of all Arab states to support the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. It affirmed the Arab countries ’adherence to the two-state solution, which embodies the independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the basis of international law and relevant international legitimacy decisions and the Arab Peace Initiative endorsed in 2002. It urged all international parties, including the United Nations and the Quartet, to take practical steps in order to launch credible negotiations that address all final status issues leading to an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and the achievement of a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution. It stressed the importance of the international community's involvement in facilitating the re-launch of credible peace negotiations based on the approved international references for a better future for the Palestinian people and the peoples of the region, based on the Arab Peace Initiative.