(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) The 144th regular session of the Arab League Council at the foreign ministers level, held under the chairmanship of the United Arab Emirates, concluded in Cairo last night.
HE the Foreign Minister Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah chaired Qatar's delegation to the meeting. In a final statement issued after the session, the Arab Foreign Ministers warned against the Judaization of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israel and called for action against the Jewish state.
The Ministers called for the protection of the Palestinian civilians and their holy places against Israeli attacks which will deteriorate the region to violence and conflict. The Ministers also threatened that they would turn to international legal institutions to prevent Israeli activity in the area, including the International Court in The Hague.
They stressed the need to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their legitimate national rights including the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the release of all prisoners from Israeli jails and resolve the Palestinian refugee issue, in accordance with UN General Assembly resolution No. (194) of 1948 and the Arab peace initiative and the resolutions of international legitimacy.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministers called on Iran to abstain from any interferences in Bahrain that could undermine trust and jeopardize security and stability in the region. The final statement stressed the importance of maintaining the Arab-Iranian relations on the basis of cooperation and neighborliness and refraining from the use of power politics.
The ministers denounced the Iranian interferences in the domestic affairs of Bahrain as a flagrant violation of the rule of the international laws and the principles of neighborliness. They agreed to raise the issue of these interferences in their contacts with foreign countries' officials and make the issue a permanent agenda item for the coming meetings of the League's council.
They asked the League's Secretary-General Dr. Nabil Al-Arabi to report on this issue to the coming meeting of the council, due in March, 2016. The Foreign Ministers also stressed the UAE's "absolute sovereignty" to three islands occupied by Iran and expressed support to all peaceful measures being taken by the UAE to regain its sovereignty over its occupied islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa.
They condemned Iranian government's step to perpetuate occupation of the islands and violation of the UAE sovereignty in a way that destabilises regional security and stability and threatens international peace and security.
The statement strongly criticised the actions of Iran, including construction of settlements for Iranian citizens on the UAE's three islands and conducting military exercises covering the islands, the territorial waters, the airspace, continental shelf and the economic region belonging to the three islands. The council emphasized that the islands are integral part of the UAE.
The ministers called on Iran to stop such violations and provocative actions which are considered an interference in the internal affairs of an independent, sovereign state. They noted that such actions will never promote mutual trust as they threaten peace and security in the region, and expose the safety of territorial and international navigation in the Arabian Gulf to danger.
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