From davemull@alphalink.com.au Tue Oct 24 21:03:41 2000
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 09:19:25 -0500 (CDT)
Organization: South Movement
From: David Muller <davemull@alphalink.com.au>
Subject: [southnews] Arabsummit:final statement - main points
Article: 107501
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
CAIRO, Oct 22 (AFP) - Main points of the final statement adopted Sunday at the end of a two-day emergency Arab summit in Cairo on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
In the light of the reverse of the peace process, the Arab leaders
stress their commitment to firmly challenge Israeli attempts to
infiltrate the Arab world in any form, and from now on to stop opening
relations with Israel.
They hold Israel responsible for any steps and decisions made by
Arab states regarding relations with Israel, including their
cancellation.
The summit salutes the intifada of the Palestinian people in the
occupied Palestinian territories which has clearly voiced their bitter
frustration after waiting long years for a political settlement which
has produced no results due to Israel's obstinacy, procrastination and
failure to implement its commitments.
The Arab leaders stress their total support for the resistance of
the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories in the
face of Israeli aggression.
The Arab leaders blame Israel for bringing the region back to an
atmosphere of tension and violence through its practices and
aggressions and its siege of the Palestinian children.
In line with a Saudi proposal, the summit has decided on the
creation of two funds: the first named 'Al-Aqsa Fund', worth 800
million dollars, will finance projects to preserve the Arab identity
of Jerusalem ...
The second, the 200-million-dollar 'Jerusalem Intifada Fund', will
assist the families of the martyrs and the education of their
children.
The summit thanks Saudi leaders who have decided to contribute a
quarter of the amount for the two funds. The summit invites all Arab
citizens to donate a quarter of their salary for one day to support
the uprising of the Palestinian people ...
The Arab leaders ... decide to open Arab markets to Palestinian
goods while exempting them from taxes and duty.
The Arab leaders demand the Security Council to form an
international criminal court to try Israeli war criminals who have
carried out massacres against the Palestinians and Arabs in the
occupied territories, based on the example of the courts set up by the
Council to try war criminals in Rwanda and Yugoslavia.
The Arab leaders demand the United Nations Security Council and
General Assembly to take responsibility for guaranteeing the necessary
protection of the Palestinian people suffering under Israeli
occupation with a view to establishing an international force.
The United Nations remains responsible for the Palestinian
territories and their people until they achieve their firm rights in
Palestine.
The Arab leaders demand the establishment of an impartial
international committee of investigation within the context of the
United Nations, to present a report to the Security Council and the
Human Rights Committee on the reasons and responsibility for the
dangerous deterioration in the occupied Palestinian territories
...
The summit thanks the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa
al-Thani, for his decision to pay the costs of the inquiry into the
occupied territories that was decided by the UN human rights
commission.
The Arab leaders stress that a comprehensive and just peace will
not be achieved without returning Jerusalem to complete Palestinian
sovereignty and giving the Palestinian people their legitimate rights,
including the right to establish an independent state with Jerusalem
as its capital.
They also continued to demand the return of all Arab occupied lands
including Israel's complete withdrawal from the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip and from the occupied Syrian Golan.
They also demanded a completion of the withdrawal from Lebanon to
the internationally recognised borders including the Shebaa Farms and
the release of all Arab prisoners in Israeli jails according to United
Nations resolutions.
They also demanded the removal of Israeli settlements in
implementation of Security Council resolution 465 or 1980.
The Arab leaders emphasise that the deadlock on the various
bilateral tracks of the peace process has led to a halt of the
multilateral track.
They stress that healing matters of regional cooperation can only
be achieved by a real progress towards comprehensive and just peace in
the region.
They decide not to resume any official or unofficial activities
within the multilateral framework and to stop all steps and activities
of regional economic cooperation with Israel within this
framework.
The Arab leaders decide to adopt the special mechanism for holding
regular Arab summits (each year in March) ...
The kings, presidents and emirs decide that the Arab League Council
will meet at the summit level ... in March 2001 in Amman under the
presidency of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the Arab League.
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