Secretary General Receives Estonia's Foreign Minister (23-1-2005)
Secretary General Amre Moussa of the Arab League received FM Christian Ogland of Estonia. Official spokesman Hossam Zaki of the Arab League Secretary General said the meeting tackled various regional and international developments, including the Palestinian cause and the situation in Iraq.
During the meeting, the Estonian official expressed pleasure to visit the Arab League and meet with Secretary General Moussa, in keenness to listen to his views and evaluation of the regional situation. She said her visit came within her country's bids to extend bridges of communication and cooperation with the Arab nation, Spokesman Zaki pointed out.
During the meeting, Secretary General Moussa notified the Estonian minister of the Arab stance over the latest developments concerning the Palestinian cause and the Arab initiative launched in Beirut summit 2002. He also explained the Arab perspective of the requirements needed for achieving just and lasting peace in the region, naming the withdrawal of Israel from all the Arab territories it occupied in 1967 and reaching a just solution for the refugees' crisis as basics. In this concern, Moussa stressed the importance of an honest implementation of the roadmap in terms of the Arab initiative and the need for serious actions by the influential parties of the international community and the quadripartite committee, specifically the USA, in order to settle the Palestinian cause in the nearest time possible.
According to Spokesman Zaki, Secretary General Moussa expressed his belief that the longer the Palestinian cause remains unsolved, the tense and loaded the climate in the region will always be.
As regards Iraq, Secretary General Moussa stressed that the political process underway in Iraq should be credible in such a manner that would accommodate all Iraqis, Zaki said. Moussa further pointed out that all should work seriously to ensure that all Iraqis partake in all phases of the process, as the one and only means by which stability could be restored in Iraq, he added.
Spokesman Zaki concluded his statement by mentioning that the meeting tackled means of cooperation between the European Union, which Estonia has joined recently, and the Arab states through the standing mechanisms, specifically the Barcelona process. He pointed out the Estonian minister's confirmation that her country is willing to exert its utmost to boost the current cooperation.
Document Sources: League of Arab States (LAS)
Country: Estonia
Subject: Middle East situation, Palestine question, Situation in the OPT including Jerusalem
Publication Date: 23/01/2005