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Relations with Israel will be re-established only after adoption of Arab Peace Initiative: OIC Head

Politics Materials 25 May 2009 17:55 (UTC +04:00)

Syria, Damascus, May 25 / Trend , special corr. U.Sadikhova /

Without observing the Arab Peace Initiative, it is impossible to re-establish relations between Arab countries and Israel, the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said to joint press conference with the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim on May 25.

"The Arab Peace Initiative is a call for peace in the Middle East, and the re-establishment of the relations with Israel is possible only through its observance," said Ihsanoglu in Damascus, where the 36th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the OIC member countries ended.

The meeting, which lasted three days, mainly focused on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and restoration of the Gaza Strip, which began in January after the conference in Sharm El Sheikh.
The Foreign Ministers also discussed the issue of Jerusalem, which Israel occupied during the 1967 war, as well as the return of the Palestinian refugees and restoration of Palestinian rights.

Ihsanoglu added that all these problems can be solved only with Israel's recognition of the Arab Initiative, which was ratified by all OIC member countries.

The Arab Peace Initiative was adopted at the LAS summit in Beirut. It envisages Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories and return to 1967 borders.

Upon the Initiative, Israel recognizes a sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, taking into consideration the return of the Palestinian refugees.

The Foreign Minister of Syria said that the meeting of Foreign Ministers in Damascus contributed to strengthening Islamic solidarity, resolving the Palestinian problem, in particular considered new principles of resolving the problem of Jerusalem.

Al-Muallim also added that Syria would not resume negotiations with Israel unless a decision is made on the release of the Golan Heights from Israeli occupation. Syria does not confirm its participation in the Middle East peace conference in Moscow, considering that Israel is not prepared for peace.

"The conference should have a goal, for us it is compliance with the Arab Peace Initiative, which Israel has refused," he said.

At his meeting with the Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov on May 24, the Syrian President Bashar Assad said that Syria did not confirm its participation in the Middle East conference.

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