By NNN-KUNA,
Geneva : The Arab League vehemently rejects the existence of any kind of a military nuclear programme in the Middle East and cautions against allowing Israel’s nuclear facilities a free ride from being internationally monitored.
If these issues are not seriously addressed, they could lead to a nuclear arms race in the region, said ambassador Ahmad Bin Hilli, the League’s assistant secretary-general for political affairs here Tuesday.
Bin Hilli, attending a joint meeting of the Arab League and the UN in Geneva to discuss crisis containment in the Middle East, told the meeting that among the most pressing crises are the Arab-Israeli conflict, the occupation of Palestine and the Golan Heights, all of which could be resolved through UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
If Israel were to withdraw from all occupied Arab lands, pre-June 4, 1967, and allow the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem for its capital, and find a lasting solution for the problems of the Palestinian refugees in accordance with UN resolution no.194, there would be permanent peace in the region, said Bin Hilli.
Permanent peace would also require Israel to give up building settlements, end economic blockades, and desist from carrying out assassinations, he said.
Bin Hilli added that the Arab League and the UN were in contact over assisting Iraq regain its status as a viable state in the region, noting that the League sought to learn from the UN its expertise on brokering peace deals, now that the League boasts a Council for Peace and Security, not too dissimilar from its counterpart at the UN.
The joint meeting ends on Thursday.