Mideast situation – Communiqué by GCC – Letter from UAE (excerpts)

Letter dated 24 December 1992 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i.

of the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to

the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

On instructions from my Government I have the honour to transmit herewith, in the Arabic and English languages, the Final Communiqué (annex I) and the Abu Dhabi Declaration (annex II) adopted by the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council at its thirteenth session, held at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 21 to 23 December 1992.

I should be grateful if you would have this letter and its annexes circulated as an official document of the General Assembly, under items 30, 35, 46, 69, 74, 133 and 143, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Ali Thani AL-SUWAIDI

Chargé d'affaires a.i.

ANNEX I

Final Communiqué adopted by the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation

Council at its Thirteenth Session, held in Abu Dhabi from the

21st to the 23rd December 1992.

In response to the gracious invitation of His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al Nahyyan the President of the United Arab Emirates, the Supreme Council of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council held its Thirteenth Session in Abu Dhabi in the period from the 27th to the 29th/6/1413 Hejra, the 21st to the 23rd December 1992, in the presence of their Majesties and their Highnesses:

H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al Nahyyan

President of the United Arab Emirates

H.H. Sheikh Issa Bin Salman al Khalifah

The Amir of the State of Bahrain

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz al Saoud

King of Saudi Arabia

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said

Sultan of Oman

H.H. Sheikh Khaifah Bin Hamad Al Thani

The Amir of the State of Qatar

H.H. Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber

The Amir of the State of Kuwait

The present Arab situation

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The Council reviewed the peace process in the Middle East which aims at bringing the Arab-Israeli conflict to an end and at finding a just, comprehensive and permanent solution to the Palestinian question based on Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and on the principle of land for peace.  It reaffirms its commitment to support the present peace initiatives and lauds the constructive role undertaken by the two patrons of the peace conference.  It expresses its hope for a comprehensive, just and permanent solution of the Israeli-Arab conflict and of the Palestinian question which would ensure the withdrawal of Israel from all of the occupied Arab territories including the Holy City of Jerusalem, and the guarantee of the legitimate National Rights of the Palestinian People, including its right to self-determination, thus establishing a solid foundation for the security and stability of the Middle East region.

The Council strongly condemns the continuation of Israeli acts of repression, violence and expansionism in the occupied Arab territories and the recent steps taken by the occupation forces to expel Palestinian citizens from their Homeland.  It reaffirms its conviction that the policy of mass expulsions, the construction of settlements, and the acts of brutality, murder, and arbitrary arrests represent a total contravention of all the Charters, Laws and Conventions of the International Community of Nations as well as of the present peace process and are in discord with the climate of the New World order.

The Council registers its appreciation for Resolution 799 adopted by the Security Council which strongly condemned the mass expulsion by the Israeli occupation forces of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, reaffirmed the validity of the Fourth Geneva Convention to all occupied Palestinian territories including the Holy city of Jerusalem, and called on the Israeli authorities to ensure an immediate and safe return of all those expelled to the occupied territories.  The Supreme Council strongly condemns the arbitrary and unjust Israeli measures of expulsion as a contravention of human rights, a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a threat to the peace process in the Middle East.

It calls on the Security Council to do all that it deems necessary to enforce the full compliance by the Israeli occupation forces with international conventions and to ensure a speedy return of the expelled civilians to their Homeland.

The Council further condemns the continued Israeli aggressions against the brother State of Lebanon which have led to the shedding of the blood of innocent children and civilians and to the pre-emption of any serious peace endeavour.  It calls on the Security Council to exercise real pressure on the Israeli authorities so as to make them renounce their policies of expansionism and aggression, adhere to the principle of the respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Lebanon, and to fully and unconditionally comply with the Security Council Resolution 425 and to withdraw its troops promptly and without further delay from the South of Lebanon.

In the context of its review of Arab relations, the Supreme Council welcomes the results achieved by the Sixth Foreign Ministerial Meeting of States adhering to the Damascus Declaration which convened in Doha in September 1992, and which reaffirmed the conviction that the Damascus Declaration is a viable framework for reconciliation, understanding and dialogue and a core paradigm for a New Arab Order in the context of the Arab League, in which other Arab States can participate by sharing the political vision of the Eight Participating States and their conviction in the need to consolidate and strengthen Arab collective action through ensuring a common background of trust and through the consolidation of relations of co-existence and close cooperation based on the respect for their sovereignty, independence and the existence of mutual interests that bind them together, as well as the respect for the principle of the rightful sovereignty of every Arab State over its natural economic resources.

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