GCC foreign ministers, UN Security Council

express support for Saudi peace initiative

GCC foreign ministers express support for Saudi peace initiative

The foreign ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states met in Riyadh in March and expressed support for the Middle East peace initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. The GCC ministers resolved to mobilize support for this initiative from the international community led by the United Nations, the United States, the Russian Federation and the European Union in order to preserve this rare opportunity for peace, put an end to the bloodshed and destruction in occupied Palestinian territories, promote coexistence between Israel and the Arab countries, and assure security, stability and prosperity for the coming generations.

The ministers expressed great concern over the dangerous deteriorating situation in the occupied territories resulting from the Israeli government’s use of brutal means of suppression against the Palestinian people, the continuation of a state of siege, the military campaign against the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, the reoccupation of the Palestinian cities and villages, the demolition of houses, the assassination of Palestinian leaders and the detention of the Palestinian President. They warned of keeping silent in the face of this very dangerous situation and its consequences for the security and stability of the region, blaming the Israeli government for the stalemate of the peace process and expressing full support for the Palestinian Authority and for President Yasser Arafat.

The ministers stressed that a lasting, permanent and just peace will only be achieved by implementation of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, notably 242, 338, and 194, regarding the restoration to the Palestinians of their full rights, the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and complete Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights and Lebanese territories. They also stressed the importance of differentiating between legitimate resistance against military occupation and terrorism, which is condemned in all its forms by peace-loving people. They expressed support for statements by President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell concerning the establishment of a Palestinian state, and called on the United States to form a new and effective mechanism to implement these concepts.

The GCC foreign ministers again demanded that the international community make the Gulf region free of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms, and stressed the need for Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and subject its nuclear facilities to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

UN Security Council Welcomes Crown Prince Abdullah’s Vision for Mideast Peace

The United Nations Security Council on March 13 sanctioned the vision for peace in the Middle East based on Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz’s initiative, and adopted a resolution stating that the two states of Israel and Palestine should live side by side within recognized and secured borders. The council voiced its support for the efforts exerted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and others to help the parties concerned stop the cycle of violence and resume the peace process based on Crown Prince Abdullah’s proposals.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United Nations Fawzi Shobokshi addressed the Security Council session on the Middle East crisis on April 19 and warned that Israel’s irrational policies will involve the region in bloody chaos in the wake of its aggression in the Jenin refugee camp and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territories. He denounced Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s unscrupulous killing of unarmed people, demolishing their homes and confiscating their property.

Ambassador Shobokshi pointed out that Israel had ignored a great many of the resolutions adopted by the Security Council, including 242, 338, 425, 1322 and 1403, and said this provides clear evidence of its lack of respect for the United Nations and international law. It is high time, he declared, for the international community to put pressure on Israel to comply with them, withdraw immediately from the occupied Palestinian territories and lift the siege imposed on Yasser Arafat, the legitimate elected president of the Palestinian Authority. Ambassador Shobokshi went on to state that Saudi Arabia supports Secretary-General Annan’s call for the dispatch of an international peacekeeping force to the region to end the violence and pave the way for resumption of negotiations.

Palestinian Permanent Observer to the UN Nasser Al-Kidwa said Crown Prince Abdullah’s initiative will serve as the basis for a just and lasting peace.