Published: September 28, 2008, 23:56
United Nations: Arab nations will totally reject any partial or interim solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because historically such arrangements have become permanent, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Saturday.
While supporting current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to reach "a comprehensive final solution", Prince Saud Al Faisal said "the least we expect from Israel during these negotiations is that it should halt all colonisation operations."
"The continuation of colonisation activity in the occupied Arab territories renders the negotiations meaningless and makes it difficult for us to convince our peoples of the feasibility and benefits of achieving peace," he said.
At a Security Council meeting on Friday on Israeli settlements, held at Saudi Arabia's request, Prince Saud said the colonisation problem continued to be the "one issue that threatens to bring down the whole peace process."
He said that addressing it was the only way to save the peace deal brokered in Annapolis, Maryland, early this year by the administration of President George W. Bush, which set the goal of achieving a substantive peace accord by January 2009 when he leaves office.
Prince Saud took up the issue again in his speech to the UN General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting on Saturday. He did not deliver the speech, as scheduled, but it was distributed and circulated to all UN members, said Brenda Vongova, the assembly president's assistant spokesperson.
"The Arabs have continued to affirm their commitment to a just and comprehensive peace based on international law," Prince Saud said. "Yet no reciprocal commitment was forthcoming from Israel ... Please allow me, on behalf of the Arab group, to make it absolutely clear that we will totally reject any partial or interim solutions, because history has taught us that such solutions tend to become permanent," he said.
United Nations: Arab nations will totally reject any partial or interim solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because historically such arrangements have become permanent, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Saturday.
While supporting current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to reach "a comprehensive final solution", Prince Saud Al Faisal said "the least we expect from Israel during these negotiations is that it should halt all colonisation operations."
"The continuation of colonisation activity in the occupied Arab territories renders the negotiations meaningless and makes it difficult for us to convince our peoples of the feasibility and benefits of achieving peace," he said.
At a Security Council meeting on Friday on Israeli settlements, held at Saudi Arabia's request, Prince Saud said the colonisation problem continued to be the "one issue that threatens to bring down the whole peace process."
He said that addressing it was the only way to save the peace deal brokered in Annapolis, Maryland, early this year by the administration of President George W. Bush, which set the goal of achieving a substantive peace accord by January 2009 when he leaves office.
Prince Saud took up the issue again in his speech to the UN General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting on Saturday. He did not deliver the speech, as scheduled, but it was distributed and circulated to all UN members, said Brenda Vongova, the assembly president's assistant spokesperson.
"The Arabs have continued to affirm their commitment to a just and comprehensive peace based on international law," Prince Saud said. "Yet no reciprocal commitment was forthcoming from Israel ... Please allow me, on behalf of the Arab group, to make it absolutely clear that we will totally reject any partial or interim solutions, because history has taught us that such solutions tend to become permanent," he said.
Source: Gulf News
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