The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has unequivocally rejected all Israeli illegal policies, practices and plans as well as Israel's attempts to perpetuate racial discrimination against the Palestinian people, to obliterate their national identity and to undermine their legitimate rights. This came in the speech of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia before the Security Council today on the situation in the Middle East, delivered by Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the United Nations Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Mualimi. He called on the international community and the Security Council in particular to shoulder its responsibilities and immediately intervene to stop settlement projects and provide protection for the Palestinian people and work to force the Israeli occupation authorities to implement international resolutions, lift the siege on the Gaza Strip and open the crossings immediately and permanently and end the humanitarian and economic crisis affecting the Palestinian people. He said, "My country stresses the importance of a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East as a strategic option to end the Arab-Israeli conflict in accordance with the international prerogatives and the Arab peace initiative of 2002, which was presented by my country and included the establishment of a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital and end the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories, including the Syrian Arab Golan and the Lebanese territories." He added, "The Syrian people, too, are still living the worst human crisis of the century. The former Special Envoy of the Secretary-General in Syria, Stephane de Mistura, has completed his duties without achieving the desired results... because of the intransigence of the Syrian regime and its unwillingness to reach a just political solution to end the tragedy of the Syrian people." He congratulated the new Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on the new and difficult task entrusted to him and stressed the support of the Government of Saudi Arabia for his efforts in achieving a political solution based on resolution 2254. He added that the Kingdom's government stresses the importance of reaching a just political solution in order to put an end to the suffering of Syrians all over the world and demand the withdrawal of all foreign forces and foreign fighters, especially the Iranian forces and their militias from all Syrian territory. He stressed the condemnation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its rejection of any use of chemical weapons in Syria, and called on the international community to seek to punish those responsible for these crimes. --More 04:05 LOCAL TIME 01:05 GMT 0033 www.spa.gov.sa/1877295
