The Arab Foreign Ministers concluded here today the meeting of their extraordinary session of the Arab League's Council at the ministerial level under the chairmanship of Algeria and upon a request by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Saudi delegation to the meeting was headed by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The statement expressed the Council's outrage due to Israel's continuing changes in the occupied territories and the process of settlement, calling on Israel to stop its actions immediately and to dismantle the settlements. It added that the Council considers the continuation of settlement policy, the siege, closures and military attacks on the civilian as undermining the chances of activating the negotiations according to Annapolis track. The ministers reaffirmed the need to respect the agreed time-frame, which provides for the establishment of a Palestinian state with full sovereignty by 2008, and the importance of continuing efforts to hold the proposed meeting to follow-up the Arab-Israeli peace process in Moscow. The statement requested from the General Secretariat to follow-up and monitor Israeli settlement activity in cooperation with the Palestinian National Authority and Arab and international organizations.
