All Muslems must give greater support to protect the identity of Al-Quds, King Mohammed
Palestine-Regional, Politics, 12/21/2004

Morocco's King Mohammed VI stressed, in Rabat Monday, that all Muslems must give greater support to the efforts expended by the Beit Mal Al-Quds Agency in order to protect the identity of the city of Al-Quds.

"To protect the identity of Al-Quds and its time-honoured cultural heritage, all Muslims must give greater support to the commendable efforts expended by the Beit Mal Al-Quds Agency in a coordinated, complementary way with all Arab and Islamic institutions that are seeing to it that the Holy City remains a symbol of religious coexistence," said the king in a message addressed to the Trusteeship Committee of Beit Mal Al-Quds Agency that opened its third session Monday in Rabat.

King Mohammed VI, chairman of Al-Quds Committee, pointed out that the meeting is "being held at a delicate time," therefore, "we need to pool the efforts of the Muslim Ummah to support the Palestinian people in order to enable them to be effective partners in the peace-making process that would help them recover their legitimate rights and foster concord and coexistence among the states of the region."

"We must all make the most of this favourable opportunity to come out of the long, dark tunnel of despair, which has been dominated by hostility and violence, and in which the language of wisdom and negotiation has been reduced to silence. The aim is to reach a peaceful, just, comprehensive and lasting settlement, in keeping with international legality," he stressed.

In this regard, the Moroccan sovereign deemed that "the Roadmap constitutes a fitting basis for launching genuine negotiations. This makes it incumbent on all parties concerned to create the right conditions for the peace process to move forward and to be based on clear foundations, so as to preclude any dangerous setback."

The king commended "the wisdom of the Palestinian leadership," and recalled "the valiant struggle of its historical leader, President Yasser Arafat,."

"I also want to pay tribute to the Palestinian leadership for its courageous determination to hold a series of elections which should enable the Palestinian people to choose their legitimate institutions freely, despite the current difficult situation. In doing so, the Palestinian people will show the world, once again, their cohesion as well as their strong attachment to democracy as a civilized means for gaining freedom and building their independent state," he underlined.

The King called on the Israeli government to "take the necessary measures to enable all Palestinians- including the inhabitants of the eastern part of Al-Quds - to participate democratically in the elections and choose their national and local institutions freely."

The third session of the Trusteeship Committee was held with the participation of member countries (Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Palestine, Iran and Morocco), and delegates of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

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