Mideast situation/Palestine question/Lebanon – Final communiqué of Co-ordination meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of OIC – Letter from Saudi Arabia (excerpts)

Letter dated 31 October 1989 from the Permanent Representative

of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations addressed to

the Secretary-General

In my capacity as the current Chairman of the Islamic Group at the United Nations, I have the pleasure to forward the following:

(a) The Arabic, English and French texts of the final communiqué of the Co-ordination Meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, held at United Nations Headquarters on Wednesday, 4 October 1989 (annex I).

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It would be highly appreciated if this letter and the above-mentioned documents could be circulated as official document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 3, 22, 28, 32, 36, 37, 39 48, 53, 68, 82, 96, 98, 100 and 106, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Samir S. SHIHABI

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

ANNEX I

Communiqué of the Co-ordination Meeting of the Ministers

of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Islamic

Conference, held at United Nations Headquarters on

Wednesday, 4 Rabiul Awal 1410 H, corresponding to

4 October 1989

1. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Islamic Conference held their Annual Co-ordination Meeting on Wednesday, 5 Rabiul Awal 1410 H, corresponding to 4 October 1989, at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The meeting was chaired by His Excellency Mohammad Ibrahim Masood, Minister of State and Member of Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

2. His Excellency Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim Masood, Chairman, and His Excellency Dr. Hamid Algabid, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference made statements reviewing the major problems confronting the Muslim world.

3. The Meeting adopted the draft agenda.

4. After preliminary discussion, the Meeting considered the reports prepared by the OIC Committees on Palestine, Afghanistan and South Africa and Namibia, which had preceded the Annual Co-ordination Meeting. The Meeting also had before it the explanatory notes prepared by the General Secretariat on each item of the agenda.

5. The Meeting adopted the report and the recommendations of the Six-Member Committee on Palestine and saluted the Blessed Palestinian intifadah and reaffirmed its full support to it. The Meeting called upon member States to take necessary measures to implement the resolutions calling for strengthening the steadfastness of the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation and to extend all forms of assistance including political, financial, medical and food aid to this Palestinian peoples. The Meeting condemned the Israeli barbaric policies and practices aimed at continuing the occupation and liquidating the intifadah and which had resulted in the martyrdom of over one thousand Palestinians and injuries and arrests of tens of thousands in addition to deportation and destruction of their properties.

The meeting reaffirmed that the Palestinian cause is the core of the Middle East conflict and that just and comprehensive peace cannot be achieved unless the Palestine issue is settled on the basis of the immediate total and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories occupied since 1967 as well as without enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable national rights including the right to return, to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent Palestinian State on their own territory with Al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital, under the leadership of the PLO, their sole legitimate representative.

The Meeting commended the PLO for its efforts to realize its objectives by delineating a comprehensive peace strategy and reaffirmed its full support to the Palestinian peace initiative.

The Meeting called for the urgent convening of the International Conference on Peace in the Middle East in accordance with General Assembly resolution 43/176 under the auspices of the United Nations and with the participation of the permanent members of the Security Council and all parties concerned in the conflict, including PLO, on equal footing.

The Meeting urged the Islamic Group to intensify its efforts at the United Nations and in the Security Council to ensure international protection for the Palestinian people in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention and to place the occupied Palestinian territory under the temporary supervision of the United Nations and to ensure the withdrawal of the Israeli forces pending the establishment of the independent Palestinian State with Al-Quds al-Sharif at its capital.

The Meeting expressed its appreciation to European countries, Japan and other countries for the positive evolution in their positions regarding the Palestinian cause and for recognizing the right of the people of Palestine to self-determination. It called upon the international community and the peace loving forces to use their influence to dissuade Israel and to compel it to cease its terrorist policy against the Palestinian people.

The Meeting decided to address a letter on behalf of the Islamic and friendly countries to the Secretary-General of the United Nations expressing reservations on the Israeli credentials.

6. The Meeting condemned the long-range missile tests made by the Zionist entity during the past few days in the Mediterranean region, one of which fell near the town of Benghazi in Libya. It considered that the possession by the Zionist entity of nuclear and mass destruction weapons not only threatens the security and peace in the region but also the existence of the entire Islamic Ummah and world peace.  The Meeting called upon the international community to condemn such actions and urged the Islamic States to take necessary measures to dissipate such danger.

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10. The Meeting expressed its deep concern over the situation in Lebanon and reaffirmed the solidarity of the Islamic States with the Lebanese people and its determination to stand by their aide for the preservation of their unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty on all Lebanese territories.

The Meeting reiterated its full support for the mediation efforts being made by the High Level Arab Tripartite Committee to find a solution to the Lebanese crisis. It welcomed the measures taken by the Committee in particular, the Meeting of the Lebanese Parliamentarians in Taif in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It urged all concerned parties to co-operate with the Tripartite Committee to enable it to restore peace in Lebanon while respecting its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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