Kuwait Declaration calls for bolstering Arab-Arab ties

Kuwait: Arab leaders meeting in Kuwait on March 25th-26th have issued the Kuwait Declaration in which they reiterated their commitment to the Arab League Charter and agreements endorsed by the Arab countries aimed at bolstering Arab-Arab ties for the sake of enhancing conditions of the Arab nation. The Kuwait Declaration, read out by Kuwait's Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary, Khaled Al-Jarallah, at the conclusion of the 25th Arab Summit, which was chaired by His Highness the Amir of Kuwait His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, also reiterated commitment of the Arab leaders to find practical solutions to the critical conditions facing the Arab world in order to best serve the interests of the Arab people and to assert their capability to overcome political and security obstacles. They reiterated their firm position on full sovereignty of the UAE over the three islands: Tunb Greater, Tunb Lesser and Abu Musa, backing all the peaceful procedures taken by the UAE to retrieve its sovereignty over the islands. The Arab leaders called on Iran to settle the issue of three island amicably through direct talks or resorting to the International Court of Justice. The Arab leaders also stressed their commitment to work on establishing the best relations among Arab countries through narrowing the gaps and asserted that Arab-Arab ties are based on the Arab solidarity foundation as the best way for achieving the ambitions of Arab peoples. They also pledged to put an end to Arab rifts through constructive dialogue and transparency. They pledged to provide support to Arab countries that witnessed political transformation and social shifts for the sake of building the state and its various institutions and its legislative and executive powers, as well as providing financial and technical support to enable them to complete the transitional transformation process. The Arab leaders also stressed in the Kuwait Declaration their keenness to bolster Arab national security to ensure the safety of Arab countries and territorial integrity, in addition to strengthening the capabilities of Arab countries in confronting internal and external challenges in order to enable them to speed up the process of growth and achieve sustainable development. The leaders reaffirmed that the Palestinian cause remains the core issue for Arab and Muslim nations, reiterating their commitment to work on exerting all efforts to ensure establishment of a Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, to the June 4th, 1967 border line according to the international resolutions number 242, 338 and 1397 within the framework of the Arab peace initiative and resolutions of the European Union, chiefly the Brussels statement, which all call for the need for a two-state solution, and impose peace in the Middle East. The Arab leaders also urged the United Nations Security Council to take up its responsibilities and move quickly to take the needed steps to set up the mechanisms to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict and achieve a comprehensive peace in the region based on the same two-state solution. They also accused Israel of being behind the stalled peace process in the Middle East and the continuation of tension in the Middle East. They expressed full rejection of recognising Israel as a Jewish state, its continuation of settlements, the Judaisation of Jerusalem and its attacks against Islamic and Christian shrines as well as changing the city's demographic and geographic status, considering such measures as invalid according to international law, the Geneva Convention and the Hague Agreement on protecting cultural properties. They also condemned Israeli aggressions against the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, while rejecting Israeli attempts to strip away the Jordanian Hashemite guardianship of it, calling on the world community, EU and UNESCO to shoulder their responsibilities to preserve the Al-Aqsa Mosque according to the relevant resolutions. They also expressed rejection of illegitimate Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, calling on the world community to continue its efforts to stop Israeli settlement activities in the Palestinian territories and implement the international resolutions number 465/1980 and resolution 497/1981 that stated the illegality of the Israeli settlements and the need for dis-assembling existing settlements. The Arab leaders called for respecting Palestinian national legitimacy under Mahmoud Abbas and appreciated his efforts in Palestinian reconciliation as well as respecting the legitimate institutions of President Mahmoud Abbas. They stressed that Palestinian national reconciliation represents the real guarantee for the Palestinian people to achieve its ambitions in national independence, thanking Egypt for its continued efforts in this regard. They also welcomed the Doha Declaration calling for the formation of an independent national transitional government to prepare for holding presidential and parliamentary elections and the national council. The Arab leaders also reaffirmed their support of Syria's just calls to regain the occupied Arab Syrian Golan Heights to the June 4th, 1967 border line, calling on the world community to take up its responsibilities in this respect, while rejecting all Israeli measures aimed at altering the legal, natural and demographic status of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, saying that the continuation of Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights would pose a continued threat to peace and security in the region and the world. They also expressed solidarity with Lebanon and will continue providing political and financial support to preserve the country's national unity, security and stability, while supporting Lebanon's stance in urging the world community to implement the UNSC resolution number 1701, based on resolutions 425 and 426, and put an end to Israeli aggressions on its territories. They also hailed the national role played by the Lebanese army and forces in maintaining stability and national security. They asserted their full solidarity with the Syrian people while affirming Syria's legitimate rights for freedom, democracy, justice and equality and the establishment of a system of state where all Syrian people would enjoy the right to participate in all its institutions with discrimination. They expressed support of the national coalition of revolution and Syrian opposition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. The Arab leaders also called on the Syrian regime to immediately halt all military action against the Syrian people and put an end to the bloodshed, while strongly denouncing the mass killings carried out by the Syrian troops against innocent people, including the use of internationally-outlawed weapons. They called on the Arab and world countries to put an end to the bloodshed and the displacement of innocent Syrians from their homeland. They called for finding a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis according to the Geneva 1 conference that would allow the Syrian people a peaceful transition of power for reconstructing the state and achieve national unity so as to preserve unity and territorial integrity. The Arab leaders also urged the world community to actively contribute to achieving a political solution to the Syrian crisis and put an end to the war and killings. They also highly praised the efforts of His Highness the Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and his initiatives to provide humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees and the displaced, and alleviate their suffering, in addition to the huge materialistic support provided by the State of Kuwait to enhance the humanitarian situation of the Syrian people. The Arab leaders also expressed their solidarity with Libya in preserving its national sovereignty and independence while rejecting all attempts aimed at undermining its stability and territorial integrity. They also praised Libya's efforts for reconstruction and building of state institutions including drafting of a constitution and activation of national unity. They welcomed the resolutions of comprehensive national dialogue in Yemen, expressing full support to the unity of Yemen and respect to its sovereignty and independence. The Arab leaders rejected any interference in the internal affairs of Yemen. They expressed full solidarity with Sudan, backing its national sovereignty, independence and unity. The Arab leaders support the government of Sudan in its efforts to implement all the agreements signed with South Sudan. They called upon the international community to fulfil its commitment to shore up the Sudanese economy through pardoning it from the huge debts in accordance with the international initiatives in this respect. The Arab leaders welcomed the gradual relative stability being experienced by Somalia, appreciating the role being played by African Union mission in Somalia through cooperation with the Somali armed forces to ensure security and stability. They stressed their full support to the unity and respect to the national sovereignty of Comoro Islands. The Arab leaders welcomed the agreement between Djibouti and Eritrea under the aegis of Qatar, expressing their full support to the agreement to address all the issues and normalise the relations. They reiterated full support to the unity of Djibouti and integrity of its territories, rejecting any aggression on Djibouti. They reiterated their firm position on declaring the Middle East free from the nuclear arms and Weapons of Mass Destruction to put an end to the armament race in the region. The Arab leaders called on the Arab governments to increase Arab-Arab trade exchange volume through implementation of agreements regarding the Arab Free Trade Zone and Customs Union to establish Arab Common Market. They called on competent authorities in the Arab world to upgrade the education, build human resources capacities and push forward the development process. – Emirates News Agency, WAM