CAIRO, February 12, 2012 (AFP)
Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Sunday supported a Palestinian request for an international peace conference aimed at reaching a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
They stressed “the importance of of holding an international peace conference on the Palestinian issue,” in a statement.
The international meeting would seek “an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories and to reach a comprehensive solution to the issues of borders, security, Jerusalem and refugees based on the Arab peace initiative.”
The Arab League also called on its members to contribute financially to support the Palestinian authority with 100 million dollars a month.
The 22-member body said the funds were needed “in light of the financial strain on the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people, with Israel not transferring the rightful money of the Palestinian Authority.”
Palestinian official Azzam al-Ahmad, in Cairo with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas for talks with the Arab League representatives, had said earlier the delegation would seek backing for the conference, without giving further details.
“One of the proposals we will request from the Arab Follow-Up Committee is for a call to convene an international peace conference on the Palestinian issue,” Ahmad told AFP in Ramallah by telephone.
He said the Palestinian delegation was hopeful “that the final statement of the Follow-Up Committee would include a call for an international conference on the Palestinian issue.”
Abbas was in Cairo for talks with the committee, which tracks efforts to advance peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, after five rounds of “exploratory” talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
The discussions, intended to chart a return to direct negotiations, ended without a deal to continue talks.
Sponsored by the peacemaking Quartet and held in Jordan, the discussions came in the framework of a Quartet bid to kick-start talks.
But the Palestinians say Israel failed to present its parameters for territory and security, as requested by the Quartet, and that they will not hold direct talks without a freeze of Israeli settlement activity.
They also want discussions on borders to be based on the lines that preceded the 1967 Six-Day War.
Ahmad said Abbas would present a “detailed report on the communications and efforts that have been made in this latest period… with particular regard to the exploratory meetings in Amman.”
Israel has urged the Palestinians to begin direct negotiations without preconditions.
The Quartet, which comprises the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia, has also said it wants to see talks resume, but officials — including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon — have called on Israel to provide the Palestinians with goodwill gestures in a bid to lure them back to talks.
