Draft resolutions of the Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut
Regional, Politics, 3/9/2000

Works of the 113th session of the Arab League council on level of the Arab foreign ministers are due to start on Saturday in Beirut under the chairmanship of Omani Foreign Minister Yousef Bin Alawi and with the participation of Esmat Abdul Meguid, the Arab League's secretary general, and Azzedine Laraki, secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, who informed the league of his approval on participating in the editorial session after the United Arab Emirates objected to the participation of Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi.

The draft resolutions that will be ratified by the Arab foreign ministers have reached the AL's general trusteeship, topped by the main of the main item of the ministers closed session under the title "The Arab solidarity with Lebanon in confronting the Israeli threats and aggressions."

ArabicNews.com obtained exlusive access to the draft resolutions, which strongly denounce Israel for its continued aggressions on Lebanon and the massacres committed by its jets as well as by its warlike statements against the Lebanese citizens especially children, elderly and women and the embargo on inhabitants of the occupied zone.

The draft assures support for Lebanon's efforts to spread its domination and authority over its land, including the section occupied by Israel in south Lebanon and the western Bekaa, assuring the rights of the Lebanese people, the Lebanese resistance and Hizbullah to resist the occupation, based the United Nations charter, especially the legal right against the occupation. It emphasizes that the Arab states should implement Arab League resolution 5213 from July 5, 1992, which states presenting the support specified by conference for the reconstruction of Lebanon.

The resolution also condemns the continuous violations by the Israeli occupation authorities of human rights in the occupied zone, which are represented in kidnappings, aggressive detentions and torture of civilian inhabitants including women, minors and sheikhs, destroying their houses, confiscating their properties, expelling them from their lands, shelling their villages and the secured civil areas including schools and inhabited houses, in addition to denouncing the occupation authorities for taking the detainees in prisons like hostages to use as bargaining chips.

The resolution asks the international community, especially the UN, to take the necessary procedures to stop Israel from committing these violations and to implement Security Council resolution 425 for 1978, which calls for Israel's immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal from all Lebanese lands and respect for Lebanon's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

The international community also is asked to take all procedures with Israel to immediately release all the Lebanese captives, kidnapped and detainees in the Israeli prisons and the detention camps supervised by its practical forces in violation of the provisions of international law and the fourth Geneva Convention for 1949.

The resolution urges the member states to seek for international organizations to take all procedures with the Israeli government to enable the International Red Cross and the other humanitarian organizations to continuously be informed of the detainees' positions and provide them with health and humanitarian care as well as allowing their relatives to visit them in the al-Khaim camp.

The council asks the international organizations especially the human rights committee affiliated to the UN to issue a decision to make investigations which are imposed by the international accord concerning the Lebanese detainees who died in the Israeli prisons and detention places and pay compensation to the injured, according to international law.

The occupied Syrian Arab Golan.

The council condemns the Israeli attempts aimed at dedicating the Syrian Golan's occupation, considering these attempts a challenge to the international community's will and international legitimacy resolutions, especially Security Council's resolution 497 for 1981, which considered the Israeli procedures concerning the Golan null and void and denounced Israel's policy aiming at changing the natural and demographic status of Golan through establishing more settlements and bringing settlers to it. It also denounced the Israel policy which aims at destroying the peace process and the continuous escalation of tensions in the area.

The Golan draft resolution asks the peace process sponsor and the international community to take their responsibilities in committing Israel to implement resolutions of international law which call for the complete withdrawal from Golan and support Syria in its stable stance in achieving a comprehensive and just peace in the area. It also urges the international community with the European Union to make Israel apply UN resolutions concerning a complete Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab lands.

The council assures the Arab states' firm support for Syria's fair demand and its rights in restoring the Golan, based on the peace process and international legitimacy resolutions, committing to the results reached, resuming the negotiations from their halting point, supporting the endurance of the Syrian Arab citizens, standing by them in confronting the Israeli occupation in their insistence on adhering with their lands and their Syrian Arab identity as well as emphasizing applying the Geneva Convention for 1949 to the citizens of the occupied Golan.

The draft resolution on Palestine, the Israeli occupation and supporting the uprising

The draft resolution urges the Arab and Islamic states to exert their efforts to enhance the Palestinian people's endurance in the city of Jerusalem, demands that the Arab and Islamic states support the Jerusalem fund to be able to confront the Israeli challenges and the Israeli settlements in Jerusalem, as well as coordination in the field among the AL, the OIC and the Jerusalem committee.

It calls on the international community to pressure Israel to stop all its illegal procedures, which violate international accords, treaties and charters, especially the fourth Geneva Convention concerning the settlement, confiscating lands, withdrawing the identity cards from Palestinian residents, schemes for destroying Al Aqsa mosque, working on lifting the sanctions imposed on Jerusalem, urging the international organizations, especially UNESCO, to press Israel to stop all efforts made by Israel in Jerusalem which aim at forging the historical identity of the city and threatening Al Aqsa mosque.

The council emphasizes all the previous measures topped by resolution N 5092 concerning resuming support for the peace process based on international legitimacy resolutions, especially N 242, 338 and 425, the land-for-peace principle, and the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, warning of the Israeli government's continuation of evading implementing the rights of the transitional stage stated by the signed agreement with the Israeli government with the Palestinian side and not committing to the specific dates in these agreements whether they concern the transitional or final stage.

It calls on the USA to take its responsibility to make Israel implement the agreements signed with the Palestinian side, urging Russia to revitalize its role in sponsoring the peace process and work with the US sponsor to bring the peace process out of the crisis, hailing the European Union's stance which understands Arab and Palestinian rights and looking forward to a stronger European role to effect the peace process.

The resolution emphasizes the Arab states' opposition to all schemes aiming at solving the refugees' case through setting them outside Palestine and adhering to solving their case on the basis of United Nations resolutions, especially resolution N 194 starting from the year 2000, supporting efforts for convening the refugees' symposium in the coming month in Paris in association with the Arab League and the UN committee concerned with the Palestinian people practices for their rights.

Legalizing mechanisms for the systematic meetings of the Arab summit, including the league's charter.

The special attachment will be raised for the systematic periodic convening of an Arab summit including the AL charter at the coming Arab summit conference to be ratified by the specialized fronts in the member states.

Iran's occupation of the Gulf islands.

The council denounces Iran's continuation in dedicating its occupation of the three Emirates Islands Greater and Lesser Tunb and Abu Mousa and violating the UAE's sovereignty and supports all peaceful procedures and means taken to restore the UAE's sovereignty over its occupied Islands.

The draft urges Iran to end its occupation of the three islands and stop constructing establishments on them aiming at changing its construction and housing structures as well as removing all the establishments that were previously unilaterally implemented in the three islands.

US and UK. threats to Libya due to conflict over Lockerbie.

The council emphasizes its solidarity with Libya in demanding a fair trail for the three Libyan suspects in the Lockerbie case and observation of all their legal and humanitarian rights during and after the trial. It expresses absolute refusal of continuing insistence on obstructing lifting the sanctions off Libya, ignoring what were stated in article 16 of resolution N 883 for 1993 and leave the case to the Scottish court in Holland, demanding that the UN Security Council lift up the sanctions on Libya immediately.

Schemes against Sudan.

The draft resolution emphasizes supporting Sudan to confront threatens to its stability, unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, refusing any attempts to divide it or implore the council to find a mechanism to prevent the rebel movement from getting weapons, denouncing imposing a unilateral US economic sanctions on Sudan.

The draft resolution of Degla and Euphrates rivers.

The resolution emphasizes supporting the rights of Iraq and Syria to the water of Degla and Euphrates rivers, urging Turkey to enter into negotiations as soon as possible to reach a final agreement to make a reasonable division of the waters that guarantees the three countries' rights according to the provisions of international law. It expresses Arab anxiety over continuing establishing the dams and other projects on Degla and Euphrates rivers without the preliminary consultations with the two countries with it on using the two rivers.

Risks of the Turkish - Israeli military cooperation.

The council expresses its deep anxiety toward continuing the military cooperation between Turkey and Israel, urging Turkey to reconsider this cooperation because of the risks it poses to Arab national security in the area.

Coordinating the Arab states' stances in a conference for revising the non-proliferation treaty for year 2000.

The draft asserts that revising the treaty for the year 2000 takes a comprehensive evaluation of all parts of the treaty, the pledges committed in the conference on revising and extending the non-proliferation treaty for 1995. It says Israel's refusal to join the non-proliferation treaty and submit all its nuclear utilities to system of comprehensive guarantees of the International Atomic Energy Agency is a direct threat to security and stability at the regional and international levels and harms the credibility of the non-proliferation treaty.

It also asks Russia, US and UK to do their best to join Israel to the international treaty without delay and submit all its nuclear utilities to the comprehensive guarantee system to achieve the treaty's universality as a step toward establishing a zone free of nuclear weapons in Middle East.

Previous Stories:
  On Iran's attending the meeting of the Arab FM council   (3/8/2000)
  Iranian to participate in meetings of Arab foreign ministers in Beirut   (3/7/2000)
  Arab League secretary general on visit to UK   (3/7/2000)
  Report: Attempts to convene the meetings of the Damascus Declaration   (3/7/2000)
  Abdul Meguid: There are no reservations toward discussing sanctions on Iraq   (3/1/2000)
  AL council to be held in Lebanon, March 11 and 12 in solidarity with the Lebanese people   (2/24/2000)

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