Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Monday blasted Israel and voiced their full support for the Palestinian struggle against the Jewish state’s occupation.
They welcomed a call by Qatar to hold an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to discuss the dangerous situation in occupied Arab lands, said the Gulf Daily News.
“The leaders also called on the US to play a more active role in ending Israeli brutality against the Palestinian people,” said GCC Secretary-General Jamil Al Hujailan.
He was speaking following Monday’s one-day, mid-year consultative summit of GCC leaders in Bahrain, chaired by Sheikh Hamad Al Khalifa.
“Israeli brutality against the Palestinians has exceeded all limits,” the leaders said in a final communiqué, cited by the paper.
“The meeting focused on the Palestinian crisis and the suffering of the Palestinian people, which remains a top priority for GCC leaders,” said Al Hujailan.
“GCC leaders fully support the Palestinian people in their struggle against Israeli occupation and they are fully committed to the resolutions of the Arab summit, held in Amman," he said.
“What is happening in Palestine is a threat to peace in the entire Arab region,” said the GCC leaders in the communiqué.
They called on the international community, particularly the US, to stop Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and pressure Israel to return to peace negotiations based on the principle of land-for-peace, the paper said.
It is not known when the OIC foreign ministers meeting will take place.
Meanwhile, Al Hujailan said GCC leaders also discussed the possibility of advancing the target date for the GCC customs union, which is scheduled to be forged by March 2005.
“The leaders are willing to bring the deadline forward,” said Al Hujailan.
Regarding the GCC defense pact, agreed upon by GCC leaders during their last summit in Manama, Al Hujailan said three GCC states were in the process of ratifying the pact.
Bahrain and two other states have already ratified the agreement.
Al Hujailan said the reports of a number of ministerial meetings were presented to the GCC leaders.
The reports included recommendations on issues such as the customs union, the GCC power grid, monetary union, the GCC defense pact and securing water supplies, said the paper - Albawaba.com
