CAIRO // Senior Arab ministers including Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, have discussed the latest developments in Israel and Palestine.
Talks between the region’s foreign ministers took place during the Arab Peace Initiative Committee session at the general headquarters of the Arab League on Saturday, reports government news agency Wam.
A key element of the agenda was how to address Israel’s continuing expansion plans in the city of Jerusalem and its actions at Al Aqsa Mosque.
Ahmed bin Heli, deputy secretary-general of the Arab League, said the committee has been closely following the developments in Palestine.
The committee also discussed the Palestinian proposal to end Israeli occupation within the time frame set by the United Nations Security Council.
The European Union’s current position on the recognition of Palestinian statehood was also on the agenda.
In a statement before the session began Mr bin Heli said that the committee would submit a number of resolutions to the Arab Ministerial Council.
The UAE delegation included Mohammed bin Nahkhira Al Dhaheri, UAE ambassador to Egypt and permanent representative to the Arab League, Dr Jassim Mohammed Al Khalofi, director of the Department of Arab Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ali Al Shamili, the official in charge of the Arab League at the UAE embassy in Cairo.
The committee’s session was chaired by the Kuwait’s first deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, and the Arab League secretary-general, Dr Nabil Al Arabi.
The committee includes Kuwait, Palestine, the UAE, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Yemen and Oman as members.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
