Sheikh Hamad bin Jasem bin Jaber Al Thani, Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that negotiations with the Israeli side would not be resumed unless a serious offer on new and clear bases of resuming negotiaions be presented by the United States. In a joint press conference with Amro Musa, Secretary General of the Arab League, Jasem said following the end of the Arab Peace Initiative committee meeting in Cairo today that Arab countries could not accept peace upon the vision of Netanyaho (the Israeli Prime Minister) but upon the bases of international legitimacy resolutions. The new problem is that the international mediator (the U.S. administration) has given up its pledges to Arab countries and to the Palestinains as regards the peace process and confined its role to just wishing and forming a bridge to pass messages and narrowing gaps, Sheikh Hamad bin Jasem said. He added that despite the expected U.S. veto had the matter was discussed at the Security Council, we have to go to there to present the overall issue or part of it, namely the settlement, on the discussion table since we seek the council's support within our peaceful endeavor and not a belligerent one. For his part, Musa announced that Arab ambassadors at the United Nations have been instructed to call for a meeting of the Security Council to discuss the overall Isreali settlement issue. A number of steps have also been taken, including preparations to send the Arab Israeli issue as a whole to the UN Security Council's table. He said the Israeli position has put an end to any hope of reaching a settlement, noting that the situation now could not tolerate looking for new chances. However, he paid tribute to the recogniton of Brazil and Argentina of the Palestinian state on the 67 parallels with Al-Quds as its capital.
