Maher leaves for Doha today
Egypt-Regional, Politics, 12/10/2001

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher leaves Cairo for Doha on Monday leading Egypt's delegation to the emergency meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), due to run for two days.

The conference will mainly cover the deteriorating situation in the occupied territories in light of the continuous Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people.

The conference, to be held upon a call by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, aims at reaching an Arab and Islamic mechanism for confronting Israel's aggressive acts and intensifying contact with the various world countries and international organizations.

The Arab Foreign Ministers will hold consultative meeting on the sidelines of the Ministerial Council meetings aimed at reaching an Arab stance in confronting the situation in the Middle East.

Maher will hold a series of meetings with the Arab and Islamic Foreign Ministers participating in the Doha conference.

Emir Sheikh Khalifa Ben Hamad Al-Thani will open today. the tenth emergency ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) said a statement by the Emiri Court late Sunday.

Sheikh Hamad will deliver the key speech taking up the latest developments in the Palestinian areas, said the Qatar News Agency.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat called off his visit to Qatar to participate in the emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the consultative meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers in Qatar.

Arafat delegated a Palestinian official to the meeting.

According to Local Administration Minister Saeb Erekat, the reason behind cancelling the visit is the difficult conditions in Palestine which demand close monitoring.

Palestinian observers, however, attributed the cancellation of the visit to the Israeli rightists' call to expel Arafat form the territories.

It has also been prompted by fear that Israel might not allow Arafat back home if he leaves and consequently this could kick off a new wave of violence and bloodshed, said the sources.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabor al-Thani made a phone call late Sunday with the US undersecretary of state Richard Armitage.

During the contact, Sheikh Hamad and Armitage discussed facilitating the travel of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to Doha for participation in the ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), to kickstart today, the Qatari news agency said.

Previous Stories:
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  Egypt calls upon handling African disputes, and return of stability to Somalia   (12/5/2001)
  Al-Baz outlines Egypt's position towards current ME developments   (12/5/2001)

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