17 March 2009

The Follow-up and Implementation Ministerial Committee for the 20th Arab Summit, headed by Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem concluded activities Monday by approving recommendations submitted by the Committee meeting on the level of permanent envoys on following up implementation of Damascus Summit resolutions to be proposed to the Arab forthcoming Summit of Doha.

Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Qatar participated in the meeting as members, Oman as Head of the Gulf cooperation Council, Libya as Head of the African Union and Arab Maghreb Union, Kuwait as head of the Economic summit, Egypt as sponsor of the inter-Palestinian reconciliation and Amr Mussa as Secretary General of the Arab League.

"Recommendations approved by the Committee's Ministers will be proposed to the Arab forthcoming Summit due in Doha, Qatar," Moallem said in a joint press Conference with Mussa. He noted that President Bashar al-Assad, during a meeting with the Arab participant Ministers, explained his vision on the necessity of managing the Arab differences and finding a mechanism for this purpose.

Moallem described the Syrian-Iranian bilateral ties as excellent, stressing that "the relations have never changed, based on the Iranian Islamic Revolution's stance on the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict." On the relation between Syria and Hamas, the Syrian Minister said Hamas Movement is a main part of the Palestinian people and proved its struggle and courage in the face of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, adding that Hamas won the legislative elections run in the Palestinian lands.

As for the Kuwaiti efforts for the Arab reconciliation, Moallem expressed appreciation of Emir of Kuwait's efforts, underlining that Riyadh summit constitutes a step on the right way and the efforts will continue in this regard before and after Doha Summit in order to reach an Arab comprehensive reconciliation that fortifies the Arab nation.

On Riyadh summit outcomes and the agreement on managing differences, Moallem said "there is no dispute on the necessity of liberating the occupied Arab territories, occupied in 1967 and this is a strategic target for all Arab countries, but the difference is whether liberation will be through a mere political act or the political act will be in parallel with the resistant act… the aim is how we liberate the occupied lands and the difference in opinion stems from the national interests, geographic site and the existence of Israel and our occupied lands."

For his part, Mussa pointed out that there is a massive Arab activity in various political, economic, cultural and developmental sectors during Syria's presidency of the Arab Summit.

On inter-Arab relations, Mousa stressed that expectations are high, noting that Arab disputes must be dealt with to clear the atmospheres. He said the standing efforts for inter-Arab reconciliation will expand to include all aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict in a geographic and objective manner, affirming that what is needed isn't only guaranteeing the success of the Doha Summit, but also reconciliation itself, which means reconsidering the management of inter-Arab relations and how to deal with them.

Regarding whether the suggestions that will be presented to the Doha Summit will be made public or not, Mussa pointed out that the Arab League decisions have all been made public, but the decisions were presented to President Bashar al-Assad as the President of the Summit, and he will decide on presenting them to the summit, adding that the decisions will be announced the moment they are approved.

As for the peace process in light of the Israeli elections, Mousa said "we hear that an extremist right-wing government is coming, and that things will become worse… but can any government be worse than the current one that waged aggressions on Lebanon and Gaza, made life in the West Bank impossible, and refused to discuss the issue of Jerusalem and the Arab Initiative?"