Women take a stand
▶ Decries Trump decision to relocate American embassy to Jerusalem
Saudi Arabia on Thursday condemned the American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as foreign ministers of the Arab League met in Riyadh.
The Trump administration’s decision to relocate the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem “hampers the international efforts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict”, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said during his opening speech at the preparatory meeting for 29th Arab League summit on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia will take “a firm stand” in placing the Palestinian conflict at the top of the summit agenda, he said.
“We extend our support to the Palestinians’ right to establish their homeland based on the 1967 lines with the capital city Jerusalem, as stated in the international resolutions and the Arab peace initiative,” he said.
The civil war in Yemen was discussed by the Gulf Co-operation Council’s secretary-general, Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani, and the UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths.
Dr Al Zayani said they held talks on resuming negotiations among stakeholders to end the war, which has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises after three years of fighting.
He said the terms for a settlement would begin with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels handing power to the internationally recognised government of President Abdradu Mansur Hadi and relinquishing control of the capital, Sanaa.
In a surprise move, Qatar’s permanent representative to the Arab League and ambassador to Egypt, Saif Muqaddam Al Buainein, attended Thursday’s meeting in the Saudi capital.
It was the first public visit to the kingdom by a Qatari official since the boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and three other countries began on June 5.
It is unlikely that the dispute over Doha’s support for extremism will be resolved during the session, with Mr Al Jubeir saying last month that Qatar was a minor concern for his country. The sentiment was echoed by the other boycotting countries – the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.
The presence of a Qatari official follows reports earlier this week in Kuwaiti daily Al
Rai that Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, will attend the summit.
While the Qatar dispute is not on the main agenda of the summit, the meeting is expected to address Libya and Syria.
The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, said the foreign ministers’ meeting and the summit in Dammam on Sunday would attempt to bolster regional stability and address concerns over Arab conflict.
“We are seeking to develop commonalities that will promote stability [and] reject foreign interference in Arab affairs,” he said on Twitter.