Arab foreign ministers decide to form ministerial delegation under Prince Saud al-Faisal to head for UNSC in bid to stop Israeli aggression

FMs adopt proposals including halt to war, appeasement, opening Rafah checkpoint, return to dialogue

Prince Saudi al-Faisal describes as "crime and carnage" Israeli attacks on Gaza

Arab Foreign Ministers concluded in Cairo on Wednesday their extraordinary meeting chaired by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi Foreign Minister.

During the meeting, the ministers discussed the situation in Gaza Strip and a unified Arab position against Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip in addition to ways of providing aid for the Palestinian people.

The Arab Ministerial Council decided to set up an Arab ministerial committee comprising of member states of the Arab peace initiative committee. This Arab ministerial committee will be headed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Arab League Secretary General. The members of this committee will be Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco and Libya (Arab member of UN Security Council). This committee is assigned to head for the UN Security Council to follow-up the implementation of this decision and submit its report on this issue to the Council's meeting to be held immediately after the end of this task. Such meeting will be open to follow-up the developments of the Israeli brutal aggression on the Palestinian territories.

The Council expressed its strong condemnation of the barbaric Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip, which resulted in thousands of Palestinian martyrs and injured and heavy destruction. The Council rejected the allegations saying that this aggression is a self-defense.

The Arab Ministerial Council condemned Israel for imposing siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip, which led to a sharp deterioration in the humanitarian situation. The Council made Israel full responsible for such deterioration and emphasized the immediate lift of the siege.

The Council called in its final decisions to submit an immediate request to convene Security Council session. The Council also demanded UN Security Council pass a resolution ordering Israel to immediately stop this aggression, lift the siege, open the crossings, end the policy of the collective punishment, provide international protection for the Palestinian people and ensure the implementation of these commitments to bring calm. The Council also authorized an Arab ministerial delegation of the members of Arab Peace Initiative Committee to authorize the Security Council to achieve these objectives.

The Council renewed emphasis on the importance of providing urgent humanitarian assistance by Arab countries to Gaza Strip, praising the efforts by Egypt to deliver the aid through Rafah crossing.

The Foreign Ministers welcomed Egypt's opening of Rafah crossing for humanitarian purposes, taking into consideration Egypt's assurances of its willingness to make efforts and work with the parties concerned to take necessary steps to open Rafah crossing on an ongoing basis in accordance with the rules already agreed upon in November 2005.

The Council called upon all Palestinian factions to immediately begin work and create the appropriate environment to restore Palestinian unity and directly participate in efforts to achieve reconciliation sponsored by Egypt. The Council stressed that the Palestinian National reconciliation is the true guarantee for the restoration of legitimate Palestinian rights and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The Arab Foreign Ministers emphasized on supporting the Palestinian National Authority and its legitimacy institutions to enable it to face the effects of this aggression. The Council urged the Arab League Council to support international relief organizations, especially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The Arab Foreign Ministers Council made Israel (the Occupying Power) full responsible for damage inflicted on the Palestinian infrastructure and individuals, calling on the international community, especially France the sponsor of the Conference of Donor Countries for the Palestinian People, to take necessary action to convene the meeting in order to rebuild what has been destroyed by the Israeli occupying forces.

The Council called upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to convene a conference to implement the Declaration issued during its conference held on December 5th, 2001, regarding the need for the application of the Convention on the Palestinian occupied land, urging the Contracting States to compel Israel to abide by its provisions in coordination and cooperation with the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the African Union.

The Council discussed the invitation of Qatar, Syria and Yemen to hold an extraordinary Arab summit to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary General, held in Cairo on Wednesday a joint press conference following the conclusion of the meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers last night.

In his speech during the joint press conference, Prince Saud, who is also the Chairman of the current session of Arab Foreign Ministers Council, said that the Council discussed at length the fierce Israeli aggression against Gaza Strip, pointing out that the deliberations of the extraordinary meeting of Arab Ministers witnessed serious concern and strong discontent on the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip which resulted in hundreds of deaths and more than a thousand injured and contributed to the spread of mass destruction and horror.

Prince Saud also said that the Council considered this Israeli attack as an attack against not only Gaza Strip but also against all Palestinian citizens. Such attack can not be justified in any way.

Prince Saud said the Council demanded an immediate end to the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip and called on the UN Security Council to convene immediately to issue an international resolution to stop fighting, protect the Palestinian people and deploy international observers to ensure the implementation of the cease-fire resolution.

Prince Saud noted that the council reviewed the deep human tragedy of the Palestinian people under the Israeli aggression and the existing efforts to overcome the ordeal, stressing that the Council emphasized the importance of continuing these efforts, providing the Palestinians with their needs of food and medicine urgently through all crossings, and calling on Arab and international states and institutions to participate in the ongoing relief efforts for the Palestinians.

He affirmed the rejection of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers of all attempts to infringe on or bid over the Egyptian role in the Palestinian issue, pointing out that the Arab foreign ministers valued the Egyptian role in serving the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people. He said that the Arab foreign ministers appreciated the prompt initiative of Egyptian President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak to open Rafah crossing to receive the injured and to facilitate the entry of Arab aid to Gaza Strip, also valuing the Egyptian efforts to coordinate and ensure the entry of humanitarian aid to brothers in Gaza Strip.

Prince Saud al-Faisal, the current chairman of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers, pointed to the Council's continued support for Egyptian efforts to resume the Palestinian national reconciliation process until the end of the division, noting that the council called on all Palestinian parties to positively respond to Egyptian efforts to end the division.

Then Prince Saud and Moussa replied the questions of journalists.

Prince Saud called for the need for holding a meeting of the Supreme Council for Arab Countries Defense to work on protecting Arab interests and build integrated Arab defense in all air, sea and land sectors as well as protecting Arabs from the adventures that have become a plight against the Arab world as a result of urgency to enter battles for which there was no preparation.

Prince Saud also said that the convening of the Council's meeting has taken a long time and it should be held, pointing out that such a matter is included under the ongoing reforms in Arab League resulting from the resolutions of the recent summit.

Prince Saud said that when the Joint Arab Defense Council meets, there will be a growing position of Arab cooperation in this field and there will be a possibility to mobilize Arab potential in this framework to be more visible and effective as a basis for Arab policy which is not only based on economy and policy elements but also on military elements to defend their essential interests, peoples, security and stability.

Prince Saud said that the meeting the Supreme Defense Council should be held and that is what we are now seeking. The Council will do a lot to protect Arab interests. When the meeting is held, the foundations to protect Arab interests will be built, and such Council will play its role in the military sector.

Whether such a meeting would indicate threats of waging a war, Prince Saud said that this is not linked to the state of war, but the Arab Defense Council has not met for years and did not identify places of strength and danger in the Arab world. Also, the Council did not plan how to unify military exercises and did not think of joint work to build integrated defense in all air, sea and land sectors.

Prince Saud added that all these things take time but we must start work. The leaders decided that they want to work in seriousness and credibility and try to build the foundations so that the work will be based on strong bases protecting us all from adventures that have become a plight against the Arab world in the urgency of entering battles for which there has been no preparation which led to horror and losses that weakened our nations.

Asked about the demands to withdraw the Arab peace initiative, Prince Saud al-Faisal asked why we serve the interests of Israel in this framework and we withdraw the initiative. If Israel wants a real peace, the initiative exists. If not, the initiative will be the morsel that Israel can not swallow. How we cancel it by ourselves and serve Israel's interest. The initiative is a weapon in our hands in cooperation with other nations.

Prince Saud added if we withdraw the initiative, what we expect from Israel and asked, "Will Israel be defeated?" I do not think this will change any thing. We are proceeding in our approach in this context by combining our efforts and global positions to force Israel to change its position.

He noted that Israel has not been established on the ground except for its allies who enabled it with a military machine which is possessed and controlled by it the Palestinian presence.

He added that the work we are doing is not a simple. It should not be taken from the standpoint that we are unable to take any measures. Everyone can be angry and sad, but if they are not prepared fully to meet the challenges facing him, I think he would be reckless and in this way there will be the loss of the interests of the people.

Prince Saud stressed that success does come only by the establishment of the Arab real power. And this power does come only by human beings, saying, "We are all responsible for building the Arab human being capable of meeting the challenges and building a civilization that can face the world by the required force. But if we are not qualified, it is not required to launch slogans that we hear all the time".

Asked about the outcome of the emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers, Prince Saud said that now there is a difference between the performance of the League currently and what was happening before. In the past, Arab countries took decisions and every minister went home. We formed a working team and we have assurances from a number of countries that they will support the Arab decision and we hope that the submitted Arab draft resolution will be approved by the Security Council.

He said," The work will not end by this meeting; but it starts. It is correct, decisions do not implement themselves, but they are implemented by men and women who work to implement them. We do the best of our ability to implement them".

Regarding whether there was an agreement by Palestinian factions to stop firing rockets before heading to the Security Council, Prince Saud said that the truce has been required and thankfully Egypt has had a major effort. If we had remained working on it, we would not have reached where we are now. We seek to stop the fighting so that we can work on uniting the Palestinian ranks and I think that the start is well.

Asked about the proportion of the decision with the shedding of Palestinian blood, Prince Saud said," We do not match between the blood shed and words written in the statement. The most important thing that we do is to stop the fighting. We focus on this. We know that the Palestinian blood can not be compensated by anything. We hope the implementation of the actions we have taken, the increase in our cooperation in this area and the increase in the cohesion between Arab countries. This will make us capable to confront the aggression as it deserves of confrontation.

Prince Saud expressed optimism that the joint Arab action is proceeding in the right direction. In this context, we ask the Arab press to recognize that the work of the Arab League has become different where there are seriousness and credibility. In the past we were looking for a friend or an ally at the international arena. It was difficult for finding him. But today everyone asks for the friendship of Arab states and the Arab League. This is the result of a continued effort we are exerting. We will find the day when Arabs' word is united. We will perform the required effort and be happy instead of being sad.

Asked about reports in 2006 during July war and what it was then said that it was uncalculated adventures and Hezbollah succeeded in dealing with Israel, and why we do not support Hamas in its war against Israel.

Prince Saud said," Even if the military machine had not been able to eliminate militias' presence on the ground, it destroyed Lebanon with all its installations and infrastructure. Is this a sound option? Is this the option looked for by a citizen in this country or another in the Arab world. I do not think that the value paid by Lebanon in Lebanon's war equals the so-called victory over the Israeli military machine. It is true that Israel could not defeat Hezbollah, because it is not a military official army exists in a place; as it hides and uses guerrilla warfare. But the whole country was destroyed from beginning to end.

On the results of the emergency meeting, Prince Saud said our leaders appreciate the positions well. They are not adventurers. They will not engage in a battle whose most features are not determined. They will be in the forefront when the time is appropriate to move towards the interests of their peoples.

On his part, the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa commended the French proposal to halt military operations for a specified period to provide humanitarian aid for Gaza Strip, which was rejected by Israel. He said that contacts started now with a number of countries to form a strong international bloc demanding the end of the Israeli aggression and the protection of the Palestinians.

On the characteristics of the practical movement during the next period, Moussa said," The Arab initiative is important through which we can reach a solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict".