Middle East peace process – Press conference by League of Arab States – Press release (excerpts)

Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa said at a Headquarters press conference today that he believed urgent consideration was being given in such quarters as the European Union to reviving the Middle East peace process.

He said there had been a consensus for such a step at yesterday’s ministerial-level Security Council meeting on the Middle East situation convened at the request of the League of Arab States.  Speakers had expressed the need for political will in moving the peace process forward.  Time was of the essence, as the current Middle East situation could not afford procrastination.

Noting that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be completing his term of office at the end of the year, he said that his last report on the “important and sensitive” issue of the Middle East would “very much be appreciated”.  All the Arab League member States, having spoken with one voice through the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, believed time was running out and action must be taken.

He told a questioner that a consensus had emerged that the Security Council must pay attention to the Middle East conflict, and that the Arab League statement contained “all the ingredients” for the establishment of peace.

Asked about using the League’s influence with regard to Hamas, he said the aim of the Arab States during yesterday’s meeting had been to push for dialogue and negotiations.  “Isolation is not necessarily the right thing to do.  In fact, it is not to isolate a Power and shoot at it, and to throw stones at it, but to include the organization in the talks and try to bring it into the fold.”

He said that had been the mistake of certain policies vis-à-vis the new Palestinian Government elected in January.  Had there been a policy to bring Hamas in, rather than isolating it, a better position would have been achieved.  “A policy of isolation and shouting ‘terrorists, terrorists’ is wrong”, he stressed.

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For information media • not an official record