Lebanon completes preparations for hosting Arab foreign ministers conference
Regional, Politics, 3/10/2000

Lebanon has taken all preparations to host the conference of the Arab foreign ministers which will hold the meetings of their ordinary 113th session in Beirut on Saturday and Sunday, March 11 and 12.

The Lebanese people pin great hopes on the unanimous approval toward holding the meeting in Beirut, especially as the Arab foreign ministers decided to convene their meeting in Beirut instead of Cairo, in solidarity with Lebanon and the Lebanese resistance against the repeated Israeli aggressions which targeted the infrastructure and a manifestation of the Arab backing for Lebanon in its efforts to expel the Israeli troops from occupied south Lebanon.

Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdul Meguid arrived in Beirut on Thursday to prepare for the meeting while the Arab delegation will be arriving in Beirut as from Friday.

Sources at the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said that the ministry had officially received the consent of more 20 Arab states to take part in the conference and that all the Arab delegations will be led by the foreign ministers.

In this regard, the Syrian Foreign Ministry has prepared a work paper to be submitted to the Arab foreign ministers conference centered on three main points: backing Lebanon in confrontation of the repeated Israeli aggression, implementation of UN resolution 425 which states Israel's unconditional withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories in south Lebanon, and asserting Arab effective solidarity with Lebanon.

Besides backing Lebanon and asserting the support of the Arab states for it, the meeting's agenda will give top priority to the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Middle East peace process and the Israeli occupation of the Golan.

In this respect, sources at the Arab League expected the Arab ministers to adopt a stand backing Syria's unwavering position in the Middle East peace process aiming at achieving just and comprehensive peace built on the land-for-peace formula and the UN resolutions concerned and asserting Syria's right to restoring its occupied territories to the June 4, 1967 borders.

According to statements made by the AL's consultant, Talaat Hamid, the conference will also discuss the Israeli nuclear file, Israel's ownership of nuclear weapons and the impact of that on the future of the region. He added the conference will also discuss the idea of dismantling the nuclear weapons and the effect of Israel's having nuclear weapons on security.

The conference's agenda will also include discussions of the Lockerbie question, the situation in Sudan and Yemen and other issues among 43 items listed on the meeting of the agenda.

Last week, Lebanese Premier and Foreign Minister Salim al-Hoss made a telephone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara during which they discussed arrangements of convening the meeting and issues listed on the meeting's agenda.

The Lebanese, however, view the decision taken by the Arab foreign ministers to hold the meeting in Beirut with great satisfaction expressed by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud when he received several Lebanese parliamentarians when he stressed that this conference is a "firm backing to Lebanon in confrontation of the Israeli occupation."

It can be said that there is an "Arab new awareness" towards Lebanon represented in expressing backing to Lebanon. The visits held by the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah contributed to finding a remarkable Arab stand and a pan-Arab political and media support for Lebanon and the Lebanese resistance.

Previous Stories:
  Draft resolutions of the Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut   (3/9/2000)
  On Iran's attending the meeting of the Arab FM council   (3/8/2000)
  Report: Attempts to convene the meetings of the Damascus Declaration   (3/7/2000)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search