AlHijjah 26, 1433, Nov 11, 2012, SPA -- The Ministerial Committee of the Arab Initiative for Peace, chaired by Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, will hold an urgent meeting here on Sunday evening, the Arab League announced today. The meeting will be attended by the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi and Arab foreign ministers who are members of the committee, Assistant Secretary General of Arab League for Palestine Mohamed Sabih said. During the meeting, President Abbas is scheduled to submit a report on the ongoing efforts being led by the Palestinians toward raising their status at the United Nations from an observer to a nonmember observer state despite the financial and political pressure on the Palestinian Authority, he said. For his part, Dr. Al-Arabi will present a report on the Arab League's Action Plan at the U.N. General Assembly about the voting process at the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly in order to weigh the pros and cons of seeking U.N. recognition. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, the Committee's chairman, will brief participants on the efforts being exerted at the regional and international forums concerning the U.N. bid. The meeting will be preceded by an Extraordinary Meeting of the Arab League Council, which will be chaired by Lebanon and discuss the latest developments in Syria, the Palestinian cause, Israel's bombing of the Yarmouk Military Factory in Khartoum, the 2012 Inter-Governmental Conference on a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear and other Weapons of Mass Destruction in Helsinki and the ongoing preparations for the second joint meeting for Arab foreign ministers and their European counterparts.
