The meeting of 130th regular session of the Council of the Arab League at delegates level began at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Saturday. The meeting was headed by the representative of Saudi Arabia to the Arab League Ambassador Ahmed Abdulaziz Qattan. This meeting aims to prepare for the meeting of the regular session of the Council at the level of Foreign Ministers due to be held next Monday. During the meeting, the Ambassador said in his speech that the Palestinian issue is the most important priority of joint Arab action, which is currently working to achieve reconciliation among the Palestinians so that they can prevent their enemies from dispersing them. Saudi Arabia, he added, believes that the resolutions of the Arab League on the dispute between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, and the Cairo, Makkah and Yemen agreements signed between them, in addition to the Palestinian constitution, are references for solving the internal Palestinian dispute. He congratulated the Lebanese people on the election of President Michel Suleiman and on the formation of the new government, expressing his hope for the return of Lebanon as it was. Ambassador Qattan said that the Taif Agreement ended the Lebanese civil war and built the current Constitution, and everybody is looking forward to completing the national dialogue in order to let the Lebanese leadership finish the matters in the interest of Lebanon's present and future. Regarding Iraq, the Ambassador said, “we are still following the developments and we hope for the return of a free Iraq as it was when everyone lived in peace,” emphasizing that Saudi Arabia supports the safety, security and independence of Iraq and its people with all its strata and factions, and calls for peaceful coexistence among Iraqis and to preserve their national identity. He said that the Kingdom seriously contributes to all matters serving the national interests of Iraq, saving it from the foreign influence and helping it in rebuilding its legitimacy and its infrastructure so as to play its natural Arab role. The Saudi Ambassador said that Saudi Arabia supports the package of solutions for the Sudanese crisis agreed upon by the Secretary General of the Arab League and Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. Ambassador Qattan spoke about the Kingdom's position towards Somalia, stressing its hard working to bridge the rift in Somalia and to march in the process of reconciliation after it was damaged because of wars. It is time to restore stability and security to this valuable part of the Arab world. He renewed the Saudi Arabia's position on the right of the United Arab Emirates to restore the three islands and its rejection of the creation of two maritime centers in the island of Abu Musa recently by Iran, emphasizing that this action is consolidating the occupation of the islands and we hope that Iran will respond to the call of the UAE for dialogue or resorting to the International Court of Justice to settle the dispute that would negatively affect the evolution of Arab-Iranian relations. He expressed his hope that Iran will heed the logic of justice and fairness in addition to open a new page with the neighboring countries based on mutual respect, joint cooperation and non-interference in their internal affairs. The Saudi Ambassador considered the crisis of Iran's nuclear file is one of the challenges facing our region and a source of concern to all, expressing his hope that this issue will be resolved peacefully away from the tension and escalation in the framework of the aspiration to make the Middle East and the Gulf region free of weapons of mass destruction while ensuring the right of the countries to the peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with standards and procedures of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and under its supervision and applying those standards to all countries in the region without exception, including Israel. Concluding his speech, he emphasized the importance of the coming economic summit, pointing out that it is the summit of hope which everyone seeks through it to establish a new phase of joint Arab action to catch up with countries which preceded us in this area. The meeting will discuss 33 items dealing with various issues and joint Arab action.
