Joint Meeting of GCC Foreign Ministers with US Secretary of State Kicks Off

Doha, August 03 (QNA) - The joint meeting of the GCC Foreign Ministers with US Secretary of State John Kerry began here today. Speaking at the opening session, HE the Foreign Minister Dr. Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah said that the meeting comes within the framework of the implementation of the goals and objectives that achieve our common interests drawn up by GCC leaders with the United States. Al Attiyah added that the meeting is held amid exceptional regional and international circumstances and unprecedented challenges faced by many regions of the world, particularly the Middle East. "They require us and the United States to exert further efforts to confront all challenges facing our societies in order to achieve global peace, security and stability," Dr. Al Attiyah said. In this context and out of the strategic importance of the Gulf region, HE Foreign Minister said, the achievement of stability in the region, is a matter of great importance for the region's countries and the international community as a whole, stressing the GCC states' firm stance for averting the Gulf region any dangers or threats of nuclear weapons while recognizing the right of the region's states to use the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes within the framework of international rules in this regard. Al Attiyah said "we are looking forward that the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 would lead to maintaining security and stability in the region, stressing the importance of cooperation with Iran on the basis of the principles of good neighborliness , non-interference in the internal affairs and resolution of disputes through peaceful means." HE the Foreign Minister pointed out that the Middle East region suffers the effects and implications of failure and freezing of the peace process and the continuation of the Israeli occupation of Arab territories for more than six decades, during which various regional and international efforts and initiatives did not succeed in putting an end to this occupation . He went on to say that this occupation is the most important source of the state of instability in the Middle East due to Israel's intransigent positions contravening the will of the international community by continuing its illegal settlement policy, the unjust blockade clamped on the Gaza Strip and the violation of international law and the international legitimacy resolutions. HE Al Attiyah called on the United States to double effort to restore the peace process to its comprehensive track and to end the occupation in accordance with relevant international legitimacy resolutions, the Arab initiative and to the principle of the two- state solution away from the partial solutions that have not led to a conclusion. Touching on the situation in Yemen, HE the Foreign Minister stressed the GCC keenness to preserve Yemen's unity and territorial integrity, respect of its sovereignty, support of the legitimacy and completion of the political process in accordance with the GCC initiative and its executive mechanism in addition to the outputs of Yemen's National Dialogue Conference (NDC) held in January 2014, the Riyadh Declaration of May 2015 and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions . With regard to the Syrian crisis, he said due to the weakness of the international community in dealing in a fair and serious way with the Syrian regime's violations and crimes, we, along with the international community's effective parties, should to intensify joint efforts to halt violence, stem bloodshed and to achieve the will of the Syrian people regarding unity, security and stability in accordance with the Geneva-1 resolutions . On the Iraqi issue, HE Foreign Minister stressed that the stability of Iraq requires a national consensus away from any foreign interventions and from any sectarian or ethnic distinctions but with respect for differences and the emphasis on the rejection of sectarian hegemony, noting that sectarian militia would mean partition. Dr. Al Attiyah said the world still faces the growing phenomenon of terrorism, which recently affected some brotherly Gulf states. It aims at taking innocent lives, terrorizing safe people and raising sedition, while targeting the world's security and stability, Al Attiyah said . He called for further efforts and all necessary measures to remove this phenomenon and eliminate its root causes as a danger posing threats to global security and stability.(QNA)