Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amir Moussa Wednesday
revealed in Riyadh that Arab nations stood ready to begin a peace
process to end their conflict with Israel which lies at the heart
of regional instability and tension.
"The Arabs have prepared themselves to start a peace process to
end the Arab-Israeli conflict, partly through helping the
Palestinian warring factions reach an agreement in Mecca to end
infighting and pave the way for formation of a national unity
government," Moussa said at the opening session of the 19th Arab
summit that started in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, yesterday.
He commented that to resolve the conflict would also require
steps from Israel but stopped short of listing these.
The peace initiative calls for Israel to leave land occupied in
the 1967 war and to allow the formation of a Palestinian state. In
return, Muslim nations in the region will engage in full
normalization of ties.
Haling the nations that have recognized the new Palestinian
coalition, Moussa asked on the international community to lift
financial sanctions which crippled the Palestinian people.
Highlighting regional strife such as the violence in Iraq,
Lebanon, Sudan and Somalia, the AL chief reiterated the purpose of
the joint action was to secure strategic, political and security
aspects in the region.
Addressing Iraq, Moussa called for a political solution to
complement the new security approach. He further said that Iraqis,
Arabs, neighboring countries and the whole world needed to shoulder
the responsibility of uniting Iraq and halting its descent into
sectarian strife.
Turning to Lebanon, Moussa pledged full AL efforts to help
reduce the differences between the current parliamentary majority
and the opposition. The Lebanese legislators are split over the
creation of an international tribunal to oversee the trials of
suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri.
Kicking off the opening session at around 1:20 PM Wednesday at
Abdulaziz International Conference Center, Arab leaders or
representatives from 21 countries gathered to discuss regional
issues and potential concerns.
Libya was the only country to boycott the meeting. Libyan
Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam revealed his nation would not
attend earlier this month, angry at the meeting being relocated to
Riyadh from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptian Red Sea resort on the Sinai
Peninsula.
Among the international dignitaries invited to attend the summit
are UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief
Javier Solana, African Union Commission Chairman Alfa Omer Donary
and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
China's representative to the Cairo-based Arab League and
Ambassador to Egypt Wu Sike is also in attendance.
(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2007)
