Cairo: The Council of the Arab League reiterated Arabs' firm stance of backing the UAE's full sovereignty over its three islands, Abu Mousa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb, including their regional waters, airspace, continental shelf and their exclusive economic zone, as integral parts of the UAE.
The Council, in a final communique at the conclusion of an extraordinary session of foreign ministers of member states, strongly denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the UAE island of Abu Mousa on April 11 as a violation of the UAE's sovereignty over its three islands.
The communique called on the League's Secretary-General to follow up the issue, in coordination with the UAE, at international circles.
It stressed that Ahmadinejad's visit would not change the historic and legal facts, which hold proof to the UAE's sovereignty over these islands. The Council also demanded that Iran ‘‘respond to calls by the UAE to find a peaceful and just solution through negotiations or by resorting to the international court".
Calls by the UAE to find a just and peaceful solution to the issue of the UAE islands are reflective of its balanced belief in its relations with Iran.
