PRESS CONFERENCE BY LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES

 

Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa said at a Headquarters press conference today that he believed urgent consideration was being given in such quarters as the European Union to reviving the Middle East peace process.

He said there had been a consensus for such a step at yesterday’s ministerial-level Security Council meeting on the Middle East situation convened at the request of the League of Arab States.  Speakers had expressed the need for political will in moving the peace process forward.  Time was of the essence, as the current Middle East situation could not afford procrastination.

Noting that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be completing his term of office at the end of the year, he said that his last report on the “important and sensitive” issue of the Middle East would “very much be appreciated”.  All the Arab League member States, having spoken with one voice through the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, believed time was running out and action must be taken.

He told a questioner that a consensus had emerged that the Security Council must pay attention to the Middle East conflict, and that the Arab League statement contained “all the ingredients” for the establishment of peace.

Asked about using the League’s influence with regard to Hamas, he said the aim of the Arab States during yesterday’s meeting had been to push for dialogue and negotiations.  “Isolation is not necessarily the right thing to do.  In fact, it is not to isolate a Power and shoot at it, and to throw stones at it, but to include the organization in the talks and try to bring it into the fold.”

He said that had been the mistake of certain policies vis-à-vis the new Palestinian Government elected in January.  Had there been a policy to bring Hamas in, rather than isolating it, a better position would have been achieved.  “A policy of isolation and shouting ‘terrorists, terrorists’ is wrong”, he stressed.

In response to questions about Darfur, he said the Arab States had pledged financial support to extend the mandate of the African Union peacekeeping force in that region until the end of the year and, hopefully, other countries would do the same.  The intervening three months provided an opportunity for the African Union, the League of Arab States, the United Nations and other interested Powers to enter into serious consultations with the Government of the Sudan on what to do next.

He said the Sudanese Government had already expressed the idea of strengthening the African Union force -– not replacing it -– in the spirit of the relevant Security Council resolution on Darfur.  The next three months would be filled with activities involving understandings and an agreed formula on the follow-up steps that should be taken.

Replying to further questions on that subject, he said: “We have a three-month period to reach a workable agreement, which would take into consideration a United Nations role and an African Union role in the implementation of the Abuja Agreement.”

Asked why the Arab League had not condemned the Sudan over the situation in Darfur, he said there was no question that the situation in the Darfur region was a major problem, but, at certain stages, it had been either exaggerated or the subject of misinformation.  Not all the information circulated was true.

He said “serious discussions” were going on among the African Union, the Arab League, the United Nations and others, including the Sudanese Government, about an agreed definition of the term “AU-plus”, a term that should not be used in contradiction to any Security Council resolution.  The next three months would be “very crucial” in the search for peace in Darfur.

[The term “AU-plus” refers to the African Union forces remaining in Darfur while receiving greater assistance from Western countries in the form of additional logistics, helicopters and surveillance technology, among other things.]

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For information media • not an official record