The 149th session of the Council of the Arab League at the level of the Arab Foreign Ministers was held today under the chairmanship of the Minister of State for African Countries Affairs Ahmed bin Abdelaziz Qattan, and in the presence of the Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Speaker of the Arab Parliament Dr. Mishal Al-Salami. During a joint press conference between Minister of State for African Countries Affairs and Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Minister Qattan said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports the continuation of the League's role, poiting out that the Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has been seeking, since his appoitning, to reform the league's system, and he enjoys the support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Minister Qattan stressed that the upcoming Arab summit in Riyadh will be an important and historic summit due to the kingdom's status in the world. Minister Qattan said that Iranian interference in Arab affairs has become a source of anger, and some Arab countries do not condemn Iran adequately and do not believe that what is being carried out by it is causing harm to Arab national security and the security of GCC. He added, "We heard blame for the decision of military intervention in Yemen and explained at length that it came at the request of the Yemeni government, stressing that the legitimate government must return to its place." Minister Qattan added that the Houthi missiles target the Kingdom's cities and the two holy cities, explaining that this as a red line, confirming the Kingdom will continue to defend its territory, even if it continued for years and whatever effort and money it costs, until the Kingdom's citizens feel safe. He pointed out that before the meeting of the league's councl, a meeting of the quartet committee concerning Iranian interventions, which includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain, issued a statement on Iranian interventions and there was a reference to the Iranian nuclear program in the statement. "We in Saudi Arabia and GCC and all Arab countries that have the same position will not be silent on what is happening," he said, pointing out that the Iranians are fighting a proxy war and has succeeded in breaking up some Arab countries and did not succeed in GCC states. Minister Qattan said that "we have no objection to dialogue with Iran as a state, not with a militia, but it must first stop interfering in our internal affairs." On the Syrian issue, he said that the Security Council's decision was not abided by Syria, which is the same approach adopted by the Syrian regime since the beginning of the crisis, as it did not respond to the advice provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that the security solution will not end the crisis, but the regime continued, resulting in the displacement of millions and the deaths of thousands, stressing that under this brutality there will be no solution. -- More 01:05 LOCAL TIME 22:05 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1734568
