March 31, 2006

KEY POINTS OF THE KHARTOUM DECLARATION. ARAB COUNTRIES STRESS THEIR FULL COMMITMENT TO ARAB UNITY AND DESTINY. THE DECLARATION STRESSES THE COMMITMENT OF THE ARAB LEADERS TO THE ARAB LEAGUE CHARTER. SUPPORT TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY AND REJECTION OF ISRAEL'S UNILATERAL MEASURES. SOLIDARITY WITH SYRIA IN THE FACE OF INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE AND U.S SANCTIONS IMPOSED IN 2003. SUPPORT TO THE LEBANESE POLITICAL PROCESS AND CALL FOR THE TRUTH TO BE REVEALED ABOUT THE 2005 ASSASSINATION OF FORMER PRIME MINISTER RAFIQ HARIRI. THE DECLARATION RENEWS SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND THEIR ELECTED GOVERNMENT AND CALLS FOR RESPECT FOR IRAQ'S SOVEREIGNTY, TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY, FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE. Arab Heads of State and Government who met in Khartoum concluded their summit meeting with a Khartoum Declaration in which they stressed their commitment to Arab unity, Arab common destiny and spelled out Arab stances on a number of local, regional and international questions relevant to the Arab world. The declaration said the Council of the Arab League, at the summit level issued "The Khartoum Declaration", at the end of the two-day summit meetings that took place in Khartoum, March 28-29, 2006, stressing full commitment of the leaders to the common destiny and to the common objectives of the Arab Nation and to Arab solidarity as an objective, a means and a target. The declaration stressed the commitment of the Arab leaders to the Arab League charter, all relevant Arab accords and all agreements that call for reinforcement of bonds among the Arab states and the people and for dissolution of differences peacefully. "We commend the efforts aimed at developing joint Arab action and steps that have already been achieved regarding updating the systems and reactivating its mechanisms in a way that would allow for handling developments in the Arab communities and be up to par with the rapid international changes, " the declaration stressed. The Arab leaders pointed out in their declaration that the summiteers appreciated the view put forwards by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt regarding the convening of an Arab consultative summit after every two ordinary sessions to look into the new developments and to coordinate policies and stand of the Arab states. "We declare our intension to achieve Arab integration through the reactivation of joint mechanism action and to implement the project of economic integration and in particular the agreement on the grand Arab free zone." The declaration stated. The declaration urged for increasing Arab investment particularly in the domain of agro industries and animal production and for "making use of the huge potential of the Sudan for achieving Arab food security." "We reaffirm the need for cooperation, dialogue and mutual respect among peoples and cultures and for building a world in which prevail overture and tolerance and we would like to remind that the respect of the religious sacrosanct beliefs is a decisive element in the confidence building and in building the bridges of friendship between the people. 'We believe in freedom of expression but without insulting beliefs of other nations', the declaration said. We would like to express our decisive rejection and our full condemnation for steps aimed to smear Prophet Mohamed Peace and Blessing of Allah Be Upon Him, and for any targeting of the religions and the religious values, the symbols of those religions and beliefs and call on the countries of the world to issue laws and legislations that incriminate any violations of those beliefs and sacred belief and we appeal for respecting the freedom of expression without violating the invariable beliefs of the people." The declaration stressed. "We would like to stress the need for adoption of the culture of dialogue and for interaction between the cultures and civilizations and religions for prevalence of the world peace and security and for cementing the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence, for working with the governments and international and regional organization with the view to reinforce the mechanism of interaction among people and of knowing and respecting the culture of others," the Khartoum Declaration said. The declaration stressed that the question of Palestine remains the central question for the Arab nation and that the Arab option for achieving peace, justice and comprehensive peace in the Middle East and renew their commitment to the Arab initiative for peace that was approved by the Beirut Arab summit in 2002 for the dissolution of the Arab Israel conflict on the basis of the resolution of the united nations relevant to the issue. "We reaffirm that a just and permanent peace in the Middle East would not be realized except through a full and total Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab and Palestinian territories, including those of the Syrian Arab Golan Highest up to line of June 1967 and from the territories that are still under occupation in South Lebanon and the establishment of the Palestinian states whose capital is East Al Quds, and through the reaching of a just settlement for the question of the Palestinian refugees, in accordance with the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly Number 194." It stressed. The declaration also commended the elections in Palestine describing them as faire and just and transparent. It father expressed the full backing of the Arab leaders for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian National Authority and its various institutions in their endeavours to preserve the Palestinian National Unity and called on the international community to respect the choice of the Palestinian people, calling for non intervention in the domestic affairs of the Palestinians and rejecting the unilateral Israeli measures against the Palestinians. "We call for the implementation of the verdict of the International Court of Justice regarding the legal effects resulting from the erection of the racial separation wall in the occupied Palestinian territories," the declaration said. "We would like to stress our pledge to continue with the provision of financial assistance to the national Palestinian Authority in accordance with the mechanism reached during the Beirut (2002) Arab summit and to continue our contributions in boosting the Al Aqsa funds to back up the Palestinian economy and reinforces its capabilities and ending its dependency on the Israeli economy, " the declaration stressed. It expressed the solidarity of the Arab leaders with Syria against the American sanctions and said it considered the American Syrian accountability law as a violation to international laws and to the United Nations resolutions. "We do appreciate the Syrian stances that calls for dialogue and understanding as a means for resolution of differences between the states," the declaration stressed. It stressed the stance of the Arab countries and states with Lebanon and its legitimate rights to exercise sovereignty over its political choices within the context of its constitutional institutions. It also expressed the support of the Arab leaders for the Lebanese dialogue and the right of Lebanon to restores its territories that are still under occupation. It called for revealing and punishing those responsible for the death of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Harriri and his colleagues. "We renew our solidarity with the Iraqi people and call for the respect of the sovereignty of Iraq and its unity, territorial integrity and the non intervention in its domestic affairs. We declare our respect for its will and our full condemnation for the acts of sabotage that targeted the holy shrines in Samara and the mosques and the worshiping sites, "the declaration stressed, calling on the Iraqi people to hold to the unity and stability of their country. The Arab league leaders have commended the efforts exerted by the Secretary General of the Arab League to affect National Accord in Iraq and called on him to continue his effort until the convening of the Iraqi national accord conference. The declaration urged Iran to pull out of the three Arab islands and to return them to the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates, commending the stance of the United Arab Emirates that calls for resorting to peaceful means for the regaining sovereignty over the islands. "We once against renew our welcome for the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the Republic of Sudan and the steps taken for its implementation and call on all the regional and international parties to work for the restoration of security and stability it Sudan and to provide assistance to Sudan for the rehabilitation of the South and the war affected areas and call on the international community and the donors to honour their pledges and help the Sudan in the comprehensive development process. "We call on all the Sudanese sides participating in the peace talks on Darfur to double their efforts to reach a peaceful and final solution the crisis and we would like to stress continuing our support and cooperating with the African union in its endeavours to find a remedy to the crisis and to supervise the ceasefire accord and that sending any other troops to the region necessitates the consent of the Sudanese government, " the declaration stressed. "We are affirming our intention to increase the number of Arab forces taking part in the African Union forces and to increase the material assistance needed for the AU to continue discharging its mission in the Sudan." The declaration said. The declaration welcomed the new developments in Somalia and urged the Somalis to work for the completion of their institutions and boost the national reconciliation efforts. The declaration also said Arab countries support the reconciliation efforts in the Comoros islands and the political processes there. It called on the member states and the Arab organizations to provide assistance to the areas suffering from drought and food shortage in Niger, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and other areas of Africa. It said Arab African cooperation is important and necessary, urging member states to work for the cementing of the African Arab relations. The Khartoum Declaration has also expressed concern over resumption of the Arab European dialogue and for the revitalization of the links with the Asian countries. The Arab leaders also stressed the need for reforming the international system in a way that world helps increase the efficiency of the United Nations and its ability to handle challenges that face the whole world. The declaration also said Arab leaders condemn terrorism in all its forms and shapes saying they see in the crimes committed by the terrorist groups a violation for human right and that they continue to pose a threat to the national security of the countries and to their sovereignty and to their stability calling for the convening of an international conference under the supervision of the United Nations to define terrorism and to dissociate it from Islam and to distinguish between terrorism and the fight of the people to resist occupation. It called for continuation of reinforcement of the economic relationship with the various economic groups in the world and the continuation of the policies that seek to effect stabilization of the oil market. The declaration commended the efforts exerted by the international community for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) internationally agreed targets to reduce poverty and improve services for the poor by 2015. They stressed the need to continue effort for eradication of all forms of discrimination against women and for preserving their rights. Here are the key points of the Khartoum Declaration, the final statement issued at the end of a two-day Arab League summit held in the Sudanese capital. On Palestinian issues, the leaders: Renew their commitment to the 2002 Arab peace initiative, which offered Israel a comprehensive peace in return for a withdrawal from Arab lands. Call on "the international community to respect the will of the Palestinian people in choosing their leaders and not to interfere in their internal affairs." Reject unilateral Israeli measures "that aim at ending the peace process." On Iraq: Renew their solidarity with Iraqis and their elected government and called for "respect for Iraq's sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom and independence." Denounce attacks that have targeted religious shrines and places of worship and call for unity among the Iraqi people. On Darfur: Affirm their support for the African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur and underline their rejection of deploying other troops here without permission of the Sudanese government, a reference to U.N. peacekeepers. Call for parties at the Darfur peace talks to step up efforts to reach a settlement and express their intention "to increase joint Arab forces within the African Union and offer the necessary funding for them to continue their mission." On nuclear issues: Call on the international community to declare the Middle East "an area free from weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons" and to commit Israel to signing the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and open all its nuclear activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency. On terrorism: Condemn all forms of terrorism, saying they regard crimes committed by terrorist groups as "grave violations of human rights that represent a threat to national security and stability of Arab countries." On Syria: Express solidarity with Syria in the face of international pressure and U.S. sanctions imposed in 2003. On Lebanon: Support the Lebanese political process and its resistance and call for the truth to be revealed about the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and other recent attacks, expressing support for the prosecution of the perpetrators. On religion: Affirm the need for "cooperation, dialogue and mutual respect between peoples and cultures ... and remind that respecting religious sanctities and beliefs is the decisive factor in building confidence and bridges of friendship between nations." Express "our absolute rejection and condemnation of any insult to Islam's Prophet Muhammad and any religion or its symbols and call on the countries of the world to pass laws that ban such actions." On the other hand Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa has said the Khartoum Arab Summit has witnessed the first closed meeting between the heads of state and ministers where open discussion was held to explain the stances that ended in resolutions. Speaking in a press conference at the conclusion of the summit in Khartoum Wednesday, the Secretary General of the Arab League said all Arab states have paid their financial contributions, indicating that the Arab states have affirmed readiness to extend support to the Palestinian people. On the issue of Darfur, Moussa said the summit affirmed support to the African Union to accomplish its mission in Darfur as well as supporting the peace talks in Abuja.