Mideast situation – Communiqué by the GCC – Letter from United Arab Emirates (excerpts)

LETTER DATED 14 SEPTEMBER 1999 FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE

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 to you herewith the text of the press communiqué issued by the Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council at its seventy-second regular session, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 10 and 11 September 1999 (see annex).  I should be grateful if you would have this letter and its annex circulated as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Mohammad J. SAMHAN   

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

Annex

Press communiqué issued by the Ministerial Council of the

Gulf Cooperation Council at its seventy-second session,  

held in Jeddah on 10 and 11 September 1999

On 10 and 11 September 1999 the Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held its seventy-second regular session in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, under the chairmanship of His Excellency Mr. Rashid Bin Abdullah al-Nuaimi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates and Chairman-in-Office of the Ministerial Council.  The meeting was attended by:

His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bahrain;

His Royal Highness Prince Saud al-Faisal, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia;

His Excellency Mr. Yousef Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs of Oman;

His Excellency Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jabr Al Thani, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Qatar; and

His Excellency Mr. Sulayman Majid al-Shahin, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Kuwait.

His Excellency Mr. Jamil Ibrahim al-Hegelan, GCC Secretary-General, also participated in the meeting.

The Ministerial Council offered the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, its most heartfelt condolences on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz, Director-General of Youth Welfare, may the Lord protect him with His infinite grace and grant him favour.

The Ministerial Council reviewed progress made in cooperation and developments with respect to the regional, pan-Arab and international political and security issues of concern to GCC member States.

Political issues

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The peace process in the Middle East

The Council considered developments in the peace process in the Middle East.  The Council welcomes the agreement reached between the Palestinian and Israeli sides on 4 September 1999 at the Sharm al-Shaykh resort in Egypt, and it expresses the hope that this agreement will be coupled with honest intentions and will meet with full and meticulous implementation on the part of the Israeli Government.

The Council expressed its conviction that the peace process in the Middle East could be carried through to completion only by the restoration of legitimate Arab rights in implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions, the principles of the Madrid Conference and the principle of land for peace, in accordance with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978), and by the Palestinian people's attainment of all its legitimate national rights, including the right to establish an independent State with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Council affirmed its full support for Syria in its demand for the resumption of negotiations from the point at which they were suspended, for recognition of its legitimate right to the return of the occupied Syrian Golan heights and for the withdrawal of Israel to the boundary lines of 4 June 1967 and from southern Lebanon and the Western Bekaa, in accordance with Security Council resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978), without restrictions or conditions.

The Council appreciates the pan-Arab and international efforts made to facilitate the conclusion of the Sharm al-Shaykh Memorandum by the Palestinian and Israeli sides.  It calls upon the co-sponsors of the peace process, particularly the United States of America, and on the European Union and its member States to continue and to intensify their efforts as active partners in the peace process and to endeavour to revive the negotiations on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks in order to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East region.

Elimination of weapons of mass destruction

The Council once more called upon the international community to take action to transform the Middle East region, including the Gulf, into a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.  The Council again affirmed that Israel must accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and submit all its nuclear facilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency inspection regime.

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