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Arab League General Secretary Amr Mussa
(L) and Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa
attend the emergency meeting in Cairo Nov. 12, 2006. 22 Arab foreign
ministers and representatives started an extraordinary emergency meeting
Sunday afternoon at the Arab League (AL) Headquarters in Cairo to work out
a common policy to deal with the escalating conflicts between Israel and
Palestine, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. (Xinhua
Photo)
Photo Gallery
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CAIRO, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Arab foreign ministers
issued a resolution on Sunday calling for a peace conference to resolve the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Egyptian official news agency MENA reported.
Wrapping up their emergency Arab League (AL) meetings
Sunday, foreign Ministers and representatives of 22 members of AL called for a
peace conference which would be attended by Arab parties, Israel and the UN
Security Council (UNSC) permanent member states.
The resolution said that the conference should clinch
a comprehensive and just solution to the Arab-Israel conflict at all levels in
line with the relevant international resolutions and the land for peace
principle.
The AL urgent meeting came one day after the United
States vetoed an Arab-sponsored UN Security Council draft resolution which
sought to condemn the deadly Israeli attack in Gaza and urge an immediate
withdrawal of Israeli forces from there.
The resolution also suggested that an Arab
ministerial delegation should be formed from the AL member states, along with
the AL secretary general Amr Moussa for talks with key international players,
topped by the International Quartet and the UN to make efforts to revive the
Mideast peace process.
The international community should shoulder
responsibility and resume aids to the Palestinians, their taxes should be
released and returned to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), said the
resolution.
Meanwhile, the resolution condemned the incessant
Israeli hostilities in the Palestinian territories, particularly the recent
Israeli crime in Beit Hanoun where at least 18 Palestinians were killed, mostly
women and children.
It expressed deep resentment at the United States for
vetoing a draft Arab resolution of the UNSC which condemns Israel.
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Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmud
al-Zahar attends the emergency meeting in Cairo Nov. 12, 2006. 22 Arab
foreign ministers and representatives started an extraordinary emergency
meeting Sunday afternoon at the Arab League (AL) Headquarters in Cairo to
work out a common policy to deal with the escalating conflicts between
Israel and Palestine, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.(Xinhua
Photo)
Photo Gallery
>>> |
According to the resolution, the Arab states called
for an international probe into the recent Beit Hanoun massacring along with
dispatching an international force to protect the Palestinians.
The resolution, at the same time, called for the
release of the captured Israeli soldier instantly and an end to the siege
imposed on the Palestinians.
It asked all Palestinian parties to swiftly line up a
national unity government to confront the dangerous challenges be setting the
Palestinian people.
"Arab countries have never participated in the
blockade imposed on the Palestinian people," Moussa said at a press conference
after the meeting with the Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed bin
Mohammed al-Khalifa, who is the chairman of the urgent meeting.
"If some powers opt for going ahead with the siege,
Arab countries will not take part in it, and will offer financial and material
assistance to the Palestinian people," Moussa added.
Moussa also said that Arab countries will resort to
the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council to issue a resolution
condemning the Israeli brutalities against the Palestinians.
Related:
Arab nations to offer aid to
Palestinian despite Western blockade
CAIRO, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary
General Amr Moussa said on Sunday that Arab nations will offer financial and
material aid to the Palestinians regardless a political and financial blockade
by Western powers since Hamas came to office in March.
Moussa made the remarks during a joint press conference
with Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Khalifa after an
emergent Arab foreign minister meeting in the AL headquarters in Cairo. Full story>>>
U.S. vetoes UN draft criticizing
Israel's Gaza attack
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- UNITED NATIONS, Nov.
11 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Saturday vetoed an Arab-sponsored UN
Security Council draft resolution which sought to condemn the deadly Israeli
attack in Gaza and urge an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from there.
Among the 15 council members, 10 voted in favor and four
-- Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia -- abstained. The United States voted
against the draft resolution. Full
story>>>
