Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Malki said on Saturday evening that the State of Palestine received significant support from the Arab countries for its potential political action aimed at thwarting the “deal of the century” plan, recently uncovered by the US President.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Cairo with Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Alhakim, who chaired today’s extraordinary meeting of the Arab foreign ministers, al-Malki said the Palestinians are satisfied with the resolution taken by the meeting which rejected the US peace plan, believed to prejudice the national and political rights of the Palestinian people.
“We will mainly count on the output of this meeting as a first step, then next Monday we’ll go to the OIC to obtain a similar resolution. We’ll then head to the African Union summit in order to mobilize support for the positions of the Palestinian people in rejecting this deal,” al-Malki remarked during the conference.
The foreign minister added that Palestine requested the Non-Aligned Movement and the UN Security Council to convene to discuss the US peace deal, and said meetings will be held with the European Union foreign ministers to discuss the implications of the deal and ways to thwart it.
“The Arab option is the Arab Peace Initiative that was adopted at the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002. It should be the basis for any upcoming peace process,” al-Malki continued.
“Whoever assumes power in Israel must know that the Arab Peace Initiative is a strategic option. With this decision we’re sending a proactive message that the Arabs are willing for peace but on the basis of the Arab and international legitimacy references,” he stressed.
“We have no problem to negotiate with anyone whoever governs Israel on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative and [established] peace references.”
