Palestinians, Arab League share positions regarding peace with Israel: negotiator

Source : Xinhua

RAMALLAH, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian leadership on Wednesday said its position regarding a final settlement with Israel conforms with that of the Arab League.

The Palestinian and Arab positions "put the ball in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's court to make progress on the way of peace," said Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian peace negotiator.

On Tuesday, a senior Qatari official said that the Arab states see that making peace between Israel and the Palestinians should be based on a two-state solution and that the two sides can agree on trading lands.

This was seen as a concession that provides more flexibility for talks on the borders of the future Palestinian state, which the Palestinians have long said must be built on the lands that Israel has occupied in 1967.

The Arab position was announced after foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington.

"If Netanyahu accepts the two-state solution and there is a need for a slight swap of lands, the Arabs and the Palestinians are ready for this," Erekat said.

Erekat said if the Israeli government doesn't endorse the two- state solution, then the debate about reviving the peace process would be fruitless.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2010 over a dispute on Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Russia raps Arab League over Syria seat

Source  :  http://old.mehrnews.com/

TEHRAN, March 28 (MNA) – Russia has condemned a move by the Arab League to hand Syria’s seat to opposition forces, and called it "illegal and indefensible."

The Russian Foreign Ministry made the announcement in a statement published on Wednesday.

"In terms of international law, the league's decision on Syria is illegal and indefensible because the government of the Syrian Arab Republic was and is the legitimate representative member state at the United Nations," the statement read.

Russia also slammed the Arab League member states’ attempts to provide Syria’s foreign-backed militants with all means of support, including arms.

On Tuesday, Syrian opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib took Syria's seat as Arab leaders gathered in Doha for their annual summit.

On March 6, the Arab League called on Syria's opposition National Coalition "to form an executive body to take up Syria's seat" at the summit.

In November 2011, the Arab League suspended Syria, which is a founding member of the organization.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Syrian army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

Damascus says the West and its regional allies including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are supporting the militants.

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Syrian gov't rejects AL's decision to grant seat to opposition

Source  :  Xinhua

DAMASCUS, March. 26 (Xinhua) -- The 24th Arab League summit on Tuesday granted Damascus' seat to the exiled Syrian opposition coalition, a move rejected by Syrian government and some domestic opposition parties.

"It is part of the restoration of legitimacy that the people of Syria have long been robbed of," said Moaz al-Khatib, resigned head of exiled Syrian opposition coalition.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Arab leaders rushed through a declaration in Doha and granted Damascus' seat at the Arab League to the Syrian opposition, acknowledging the right of the member countries to provide all means of self-defense to the Syrian opposition.

Khatib took up Damascus' seat at the summit, calling for more political and financial support to the Syrian opposition.

"We call for an end to the bloodshed. We want liberty, we wish to steer the country away from further destruction," Khatib said when addressing the meeting which began on Tuesday morning.

He said that he had requested U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to use NATO patriot surface-to-air missiles on the Syrian- Turkish border to safeguard Syrian civilians.

Besides, the summit called on the United Nations to follow suit by stripping Syria of its seat in its body and handing over the chair to the opposition coalition. However, such a move would definitely be vetoed by Russia, Syria's main international ally.

The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in November 2011. Earlier this month, some countries, mainly oil-rich Qatar and Saudi Arabia, led a push to invite the Syrian opposition to occupy the seat of Damascus at the pan-Arab body.

The Arab League's decision to grant Damascus' seat to the exiled opposition coalition was rejected by the Syrian government and the domestic opposition.

It legitimizes terrorist acts that are committed overtly and blatantly against the Syrians, their institutions and properties, the state-run Al-Thawra newspaper said in a commentary.

The pan-Arab body is taking pains to grant the opposition coalition a "forged birth certificate," it added.

Syria's former ambassador to the Arab League Yousef al-Ahmed also slammed the AL's move, telling the pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV that the group aims to distance Syria away from the Arab's meeting so that they could implement their schemes against Syria.

He charged that the Arab body has made itself a part of the conflict and not the solution.

"Syria is not concerned about any decision by the Arab League as long as it doesn't attend the meetings. So any decision would be null and void and of no legal effect," he said.

He also stressed that the Arab League's previous remarks about arming the rebels in Syria is dangerous and blatantly infringe upon the pan-Arab body's charters and internal system.

On the other side, Damascus-based opposition group, the Building Syria State party, said whoever takes Damascus' seat in the league will be "partner with those that want to fragment Syria. "

Meanwhile, Tarek al-Ahmad, an opposition figure, told Xinhua that what happened in the Arab League summit was "a political farce."

Al-Ahmad said "the Arab states want to give a cover about what is happening on ground," referring to reports about the direct involvement of Saudi Arabia and Qatar in arming and bankrolling the Syrian rebels.

Related

Arab League to the Syrians: Fight On

Source : Al Akhbar English

Arab League proceeded with measures on Wednesday to openly support the arming of the Syrian opposition, as well as providing future assurances of giving the opposition a seat in the body.

It is no longer a secret that most of the Arab countries – and particularly the oil-rich Gulf states – are knee deep in the bloodletting taking place in Syria. If there was ever any doubt, the Arab League has taken the step of openly encouraging sending arms to the opposition.

In a 6 March Arab League meeting held in Cairo, the Arab foreign ministers – with a few exceptions – talked openly about arming the Syrian opposition and discussed the possibility of giving Syria’s seat in the organization to the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC).

Perhaps it was US Secretary of State John Kerry’s tour of the region that prompted the Arab ministers to openly support and encourage the continued arming of the opposition in their struggle against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The meeting’s closing statement, which was opposed by Algeria and Iraq (with Lebanon abstaining), declared that “the Arab countries have the right to offer military assistance to the Syrian opposition who are fighting the Syrian armed forces, if they wish to do so.”

It further asked the opposition SNC “to form an executive body in order to assume Syria’s seat at the Arab League so that it can participate in the Arab Summit scheduled to take place in Doha on March 26-27.”

Diplomatic sources told Al-Akhbar that it was Qatar’s foreign minister Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani who proposed giving Syria’s seat to the opposition alliance. This led to a legal debate in which the League’s general secretary, Nabil al-Arabi, argued that the seat can only be assumed by a representative of a sovereign nation.

“It is true that we have recognized the Coalition as representative of the Syrian people,” Arabi said, “and we know it controls parts of Syria. But sovereignty requires a framework to give expression to it.”

The Qatari foreign minister responded by saying that “you’re talking about the necessity of abiding by the law, while Bashar al-Assad breaks all the laws on a daily basis – why do we not break the law just this once and give the seat to the SNC now?”

In the end, the ministers agreed to postpone such a step until after the SNC has formed an executive body, which can be considered as equivalent to a government, thus giving them the right to take Syria’s seat at the Arab League.

For its part, Damascus responded by opposing any role for the Arab League in resolving the Syrian crisis, accusing the organization – which it said was controlled by the Gulf sheikhdoms – of being biased toward the opposition from the very beginning.

The Syrian government statement, nevertheless, added that it is still committed “to cooperating positively with constructive international efforts to find a solution.”

Russia to try and move forward Middle East peace talks

Source : Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Russia will try to break through the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the Russian foreign ministry said Friday.

A cabinet meeting on Feb. 20 will be dedicated to discuss possible means break through the stalemate and resume negotiations, ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevic said in a statement.

The Arab League and Arab countries will be consulted on every detail, the statement added.

The foreign ministry also warned of a possible deterioration in light of the unilateral procedure Israel is carrying out, namely settlement activities.

"The situation in the Palestinian territory is still high-strung as Israel continues with settlemen activities. A few days ago, an Israeli court decided to evacuate a Palestinian family from its hous in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and on Feb. 5 Israeli bulldozers demolished two-story house in Beit Hanina neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

"Furthermore, Israeli forces detained Palestinians in the West Bank including members of th Palestinian Legislative Council."

The statement added that Russia has been trying over the past few months to activate th international Middle East Quartet at a ministerial level because the ongoing meetings a representatives level are insufficient. "However, our partners are haggling and would not give specific date for ministerial meetings."

Arab League urges new approach to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Source :  Your Middle East

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Monday called for a "new approach" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, slamming previous processes as a waste of time.

"In order to solve this problem, we should have a new mechanism and new methods and a new approach to dealing with the crisis," Arabi told reporters after talks with the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.

"The main target after all these wasted years should be ending the Israeli occupation, not signing temporary agreements that would go round in circles and that would only lead to wasting time in a way that allows Israel to expand its settlements," he said.

Last month, Arabi had criticised the International Quartet -- which comprises the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia -- as ineffective.

For his part, Van Rompuy said there must be "concerted and coordinated actions by all key actors to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

"Now is the time to look forward and to take bold steps towards peace in the Middle East," he said.

© AFP 2013