Egypt, Libya slam Israeli settlements activities

Egypt and Libya renewed their rejection of Israeli settlements activities in the Palestinian territories and all measures for Judaizing AL Quds (Jerusalem).

In a joint statement marking the end of meetings of a joint cooperation committee, the two countries underlined the need for an Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Syrian and Lebanese territories as well as releasing all Arab detainees in Israeli prisons.

They reiterated demands' to declare the Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction and Israel's accession to Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

"Egypt and Libya voiced their keenness on promoting bilateral relations in all domains and agreed to activate a political consultation committee to follow up on all aspects of bilateral relations," said the statement.

It added that the committee decided to work fast to accomplish gas and oil linking projects as well as working to eliminate all obstacles to launch of joint ventures.

The committee also decided to set up a mechanism for the following up of the joint committee resolutions, added the statements.

"The UN should take urgent measures to protect the Palestinian people," said the statement.

It stressed the Palestinians' right to self-determination and the establishment of the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The statement called on the UN Security Council to lift sanctions imposed on Libya immediately as it has fulfilled its commitments and supported Libya's right to receive compensation.

Egypt and Libya welcomed efforts exerted as part of a joint plant plan to forge peace in Sudan and underlined the importance of a political solution that would maintain integrity of Sudanese territories.