GCC foreign ministers yesterday urged Israel to withdraw completely from all occupied Arab territories. They also voiced their commitment to the Arab peace plan proposed by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. The ministers, who met here on Tuesday, emphasized the need for making the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction. The international community must force Israel to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and open its nuclear facilities to UN inspectors, they added. The ministers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, said they wanted to improve relations with Iran and called for a peaceful settlement to Tehranâs long-standing territorial dispute with Abu Dhabi.
The ministers âhope the evacuation of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip will be followed by other initiatives for a complete withdrawal from all the occupied Palestinian territories so that the Palestinian people can establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital,â the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting a GCC statement. âThe establishment of a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East can only come about through the creation of an independent Palestinian state,â the statement said, reiterating GCC support for the Arab peace plan. The GCC chief diplomats called on the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations to revitalize the latest peace road map which was unveiled in 2003 but has made virtually no progress. |