The Arab League (AL) foreign ministers meeting concluded in Cairo on Sunday following a series of resolutions on key regional affairs, including Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Palestine, being issued.

 

Tunisian Foreign Minister Abdelwaheb Abdallah, who chaired the gathering, read out the resolutions at a joint press conference with AL Secretary General Amr Moussa.

 

According to the resolutions, the Arab foreign ministers pledge to help implement the Mecca agreement, signed between the rival Palestinian Hamas and Fatah movements, in February. The agreement called for an end to conflict between Palestinians and the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

 

The ministers reiterated that Israel cease building the separation wall while further attacking the Israeli excavation near the holy al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site for Muslims.

 

The Arab states further desired to see a mechanism formed to advance the Middle East resolution passed by the 1995 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review meetings whereby the Mideast would be free from any weapons of mass destruction.

 

In the Iraq resolution, the AL member states honored the independence and unity of the war-torn country, renewing support to the Iraqi government as it struggles with insurgency and moves towards national reconciliation.

 

On Sudan, the Arab ministers agreed that Arab influence in the African Union peacekeeping mission to Darfur should be bolstered, urging the international community to help curtail any further roadblocks for the Abuja peace accord signed in May 2006.

 

On Lebanon, the ministers pressed for a peaceful solution to end the Lebanese crisis, calling for all Lebanese to put aside differences through dialogue.

 

The meeting also outlined the agenda of the upcoming AL summit due to be held in late March in Riyadh. The meeting in the Saudi capital will focus primarily on Iraq, the Palestinian territories and the Iranian and Israeli nuclear files, according to the Tunisian foreign minister.

 

The statement also revealed that the Arab relationship with international and regional powers, such as China, the US and other global powers, would also be discussed at the summit.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2007)