Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al-Atiyyah, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, disclosed today that the GCC foreign ministers are scheduled to hold meetings with their counterparts in a number of countries and economic blocs, including the United States, Federal Russia, China, European Union, Japan, ASIAN, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly's 62nd session in New York. He said the meetings are designed to discuss a wide-range of issues including the international peace conference suggested by U.S. President George Bush and other political and economic hot issues. He expressed hope that the proposed international peace conference would turn to be an event for a real breakthrough towards solving the current thorny issues in the region. The conference should tackle all Middle East problems in a balanced way and not only to attract Arab countries as a lobby to help others get rid from the current Iraqi impasse, he was quoted as saying. Clearly speaking, Al-Atiyyah said the conference organizers and participants, who should not exclude any party, should be committed to the set up of two independent states, halt of settlements, end of occupation and reach of final solution for Al-Quds status and refugees according to a specific framework. He underscored the importance of adhering to the Arab Peace Initiative in its capacity as the most appropriate mechanism that provides the bases for a fair and durable peace in the region. He described the current situation in Iraq as very concerning and running out of control of insiders and outsiders. --More
