Emirati President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan called Sunday, February 25, for the Arabs to put an end to the decade-old sanctions against Iraq, at the opening of an Arab inter-parliamentary meeting.
"It is absolutely necessary for the Arabs to reconcile," the leader of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said in a speech read by Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammad Al-Sharji, ruler of Fujeirah. "We must find a solution to the Iraqi crisis and, before all else, put an end to the international sanctions," in force since Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, he said.
Sheikh Zayed also urged Arab states to help lift sanctions against Libya and "to support the Palestinian intifada (uprising against Israel) through all means."
The host country has put the focus of the two-day meeting in Abu Dhabi — attended by MPs from all members of the Arab League apart from Somalia and the Comoros islands — on building Arab solidarity.
Sheikh Zayed also called for Arab countries "to unite their efforts to lead Iran to opt for a constructive dialogue" with the UAE on a dispute over three strategic islands in the southern Gulf. "Iran must be made to realize that its ties with Arab states will be in danger so long as Tehran has not opted for constructive dialogue or accepted a recourse, with the UAE, to arbitration before the International Court of Justice," he said. — (AFP, Abu Dhabi)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
