Arab Ministers Refuse To Amend Arab Peace Initiative

Wednesday March 07, 2007 03:00 by International Press Center

The Arab states' council of Foreign Affairs Ministers declared that only Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 would serve as a prerequisite of attaining an equitable and lasting peace in the Middle East. In a meeting it recommended putting the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and recent developments in the Palestinian situation at the forefront of the agenda in the Arab Summit , which is slated to be held by the end of March.

IPC Photo

Amro Mousa, Secretary General of Arab League, underlined Sunday at the opening of a meeting between Arab Foreign Ministers that it is not possible to reconsider the Arab peace initiative; refusing remarks by Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni in which she asserted that the Arab initiative is unacceptable in its current formula.

Mousa said "it is not possible to reconsider the Arab Initiative. This demand would cancel withdrawal to 1967 borders and delete any signal to a resolution for the Palestinian refugees in accordance to international resolutions."

Arab Foreign Affairs Ministers called upon the UN Security Council to serve its responsibilities and move swiftly to adopt necessary measures and mechanisms to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole, and achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

The ministers underlined their backing of the Mecca pact that aims to uphold the Palestinian national unity and form a coalition government capable of meeting the Palestinian people's interests, in particular the lifting of the unjust political and economic embargo, and the construction of an independent state with Jerusalem as the capital.

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