Concluding their meeting in Beirut, Arab FMs condemn Israeli aggression

The council of the Arab foreign ministers on Saturday evening strongly condemned the Israeli occupation of certain parts of south Lebanon and its western Bekaa and criticized the Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

In its final statement issued on Saturday evening, the council of the Arab foreign ministers condemned the Israeli threats against Lebanese civilians and the infrastructure. The statement said, "These threats and aggressions are flagrant violations of the April Understanding provisions, the UN charter, international legitimacy resolutions and the world's human rights agreements."

The Arab foreign ministers called on Israel to honor the April Understanding and rejected the Israeli attempts made to amend this understanding. They also stressed their support for the Lebanese demand to implement UN resolution 425 and called on the international community and the UN-- especially on the UN Security Council-- to force Israel to implement the resolution without any stipulations.

The AL council also stressed total backing to Lebanon's national resistance for liberating its south and the western Bekaa on the grounds of the UN charter to resist the occupation. It hinted in this regard that resistance is a result of occupation, not a reason for it.

The council urged the Arab states which have relations with Israel to reconsider these relations because of the Israeli aggressions against Lebanon and called on all Arab states to materialize their supportive decisions into actions to fulfill their commitments which were approved in Arab summits, especially the Tunis summit of 1979 and the Baghdad meeting of 1990.

On the Middle East peace process, the Arab foreign ministers stressed the commitment of the Arab states to the Middle East peace process based on the Madrid Middle East peace conference terms, calling for an immediate resumption of the peace talks with the aim of finding a just and comprehensive settlement.

The Arab ministers urged these Arab states taking part in the multilateral negotiations to reconsider their positions until a substantial and essential progress is achieved on all tracks. It stressed the unity of the Syrian and Lebanese tracks for the benefit of the two states and asserted that the main and first precondition for achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East lies in withdrawal from south Lebanon and the Western Bekaa to the internationally recognized borders, from the Golan Heights to the June 4, 1967 borders and from the Palestinian territories, including the city of Jerusalem.

Concerning the Palestinian issue, the council of the Arab foreign ministers stressed the rights of the Palestinian refugees to return back to their homeland and refused attempts made to settle them outside their country Palestine.

The council of the Arab foreign ministers also voiced its backing for the Lebanese quest to establish an international criminal court to sue the Israeli war criminals who committed the Qana massacre on April 8, 1996 and all the Israeli crimes committed in Lebanon.

The Arab ministers also decided to consider this session open and to authorize its president to call for a meeting in case of any new Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, the Arab League council opened its 113th session with the participation of Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara.

The session, which was presided over by Omani Foreign Minister Youssef Bin Alawi, was attended by Lebanese Premier and Foreign Minister Salim al-Hoss, Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Jasem Bin Hamad al-Thani, all the Arab foreign ministers and the secretary general of the Arab League, Esmat Abdul Meguid.