ĦĦĦĦBEIJING, March 14 (Xinhuanet) -- The League of Arab States (LAS) highly appreciates
China's position on the Iraq disarmament issue, Mohamed Fouad Serry,
interim head of the LAS mission in Beijing, told Xinhua Friday.
ĦĦĦĦSerry said the LAS appreciated the role that China played as a permanent
member of the UN Security Council in trying to defuse the Iraq crisis.
ĦĦĦĦHe said the LAS and its member states maintained close relations with China
and often discussed the Iraq issue and other issues with China.
ĦĦĦĦAmr Moussa, secretary general of the LAS, met Chinese ambassador to Egypt
Liu Xiaoming on February 20. Moussa spoke highly of China's principled position
on the Iraq issue, which conforms to China's independent foreign policy of peace
based on the five principles of peaceful coexistence.
ĦĦĦĦWhile the Israeli troops occupied Palestinian territory, Serry pointed out,
Arab countries needed peace and stability more than ever, and military action
against Iraq would undoubtedly further inflame the situation in the region.
ĦĦĦĦSerry said the LAS summit meeting, held this month in Egypt's
Sharmel-Sheikh, had paid special attention toward the severe threat that Iraq
was facing.
ĦĦĦĦAny threat to the security and peace of one Arab country was a threat to
that of all Arab countries, according to a resolution passed at the summit. The
summit firmly rejected military action against Iraq and called for granting
enough time to the international weapons inspection team to complete its task in
Iraq and for the team to maintain its objectivity.
ĦĦĦĦAs a regional organization of Arab countries, the LAS was working closely
with the international community headed by the United Nations (UN), and other
international organizations, Serry said, adding that the LAS was fully committed
to safeguarding international peace and security and achieving regional and
international stability and development.
ĦĦĦĦSerry spoke positively on the role that the international community played
in trying to peacefully settle the Iraq crisis and called for all countries,
including China, to try every means to avoid war on the condition that Iraq
fully complied with the UN's Resolution 1441.
ĦĦĦĦSerry said Arab leaders at the LAS summit meeting agreed to form a
committee composed of Lebanon, Bahrain, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and the secretary
general himself to promote the position of Arab nations, consult with other
countries, especially members of the UN Security Council, including China, and
study and seek solutions to the crisis and other challenges and threats that
Arabcountries faced.
ĦĦĦĦThe LAS might convene another summit meeting soon to fulfill the tasks left
by the Sharmel-Sheikh summit meeting, Serry revealed. Enditem
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