Arab foreign ministers conclude meetings on Iraq, Sudan and Palestine

The Syrian deputy prime minister and foreign minister Farouk al-Shara described the final decisions taken by the council of the Arab foreign ministers as positive and express the minimum for Arab solidarity "that we have been missing since a long time." He stressed that all Arab foreign ministers stressed their rejection to any aggression against any Arab state especially on Iraq.

In statements to the press in conclusion of the meetings, al-Shara said that the "Arab ministers condemned the Israeli crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories." Replying to a question al-Shara said that the "US has not resorted to the idea of capitulating Syria, as campaigned by certain mass media. To the contrary, the US administration realizes Syria's importance in the region regarding the peace process or for the stability and security of the region."

The Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers concluded its works by taking several decisions, mainly a unanimous decision to deliberately reject threatening aggressions against certain Arab states, especially Iraq, and asserting that such threats or any other threat for the security and safety of any Arab states is considered a threat to the Arab national security.

The Arab foreign ministers called for lifting the sanctions imposed on Iraq, welcoming the Iraqi initiative to strengthen dialogue with the UN so as to reach a comprehensive settlement provides for implementing all requirements of the UN Security Council resolutions concerned.

The Arab ministers also called for evacuating the Middle East from mass destruction weapons especially the elimination of the Israeli mass destruction weapons in its being a grave threat to the Arab national security and security and peace in the region and the world.

As for the Palestinian Intifada, the Arab foreign ministers stressed "exerting all Arab efforts to unmask all continued Israeli forms of aggression against the Palestinians including acts of killings and assassination, as well as detention." They also stressed that the expulsion measures taken by the Israelis are considered a violation to all international norms on human rights and the fourth Geneva agreement for 1949 and are considered war crimes.

The Arab foreign ministers called on the US and Britain to reconsider the policy of providing Israel with weapons which are used against civilians and civilian targets.

Concerning the question of Jerusalem, the ministers stressed the political and media efforts towards the world public opinion in order to withstand measures aiming at separating Jerusalem from its Arab environment and the attempt to divide it geographically and socially and converting it into a military barrack.

As for the issue of the refugees, the Arab foreign ministers held Israel responsible legally, morally and politically for the emergence of the Palestinian refugees problem, and stressed the need of solving this problem according to international resolutions. They stressed adherence to the right of the refugees to return back and rejected all attempts to settling them in other countries.

The ministers condemned Israel over not receiving the fact finding commission team formed by the UN secretary general in implementation of the UN Security Council resolution no. 1405 concerning the Israeli aggression in Jenin and the other Palestinian territories.

The minister also stressed the need of Israel's complete withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories until June 4th, 1967 border lines according to international legitimacy resolutions.

Concerning the question of international terrorism, the Arab foreign ministers stressed their "condemnation of international terrorism" and rejected to include resistance in the lists of terrorism, calling for convening an international conference to discuss the phenomenon of terrorism in the framework of the UN, so as to make a distinction between terrorism and people's right to resist the Israeli occupation.

Concerning the question of Sudan, the Arab foreign ministers expressed care to maintain's Sudan's unity and preserving its territorial integrity and rejection to any attempt to partition it.

The ministers decided to form an 8 member committee to closely cooperate with the government of Sudan for confirming its unity and achieving peace in it.