GCC demands apology from Palestinian president
Palestinian factions accused of using 'incitement and threats’ against GCC countries
Cairo: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has demanded an apology from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders for using “irresponsible language of incitement and threat” against the grouping’s member states.
The GCC reaction came in response to a recent online meeting of Palestinian faction leaders held between Ramallah and Beirut.
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GCC Secretary-General Nayaf Al Hajraf denounced what he called “fallacies and casting doubts” over the six-nation grouping’s stances supportive of Palestinian rights. Al Hajraf demanded the Palestinian leaders, including Abbas, who participated in the Thursday meeting to apologise for “provocative and erroneous statements” which Al Hajraf said contradicted history and realities of relations between the GCC countries and the Palestinian people, noting that the meeting was broadcast on official Palestinian television.
“The matter requires an official apology for those insults, incitement and doubts raised by some participants against the GCC states’ stances and their people’s support for the Palestinian cause,” Al Hajraf said in a statement.
He recalled the GCC support for the Palestinian cause, being the prime cause of the Arabs and Muslims and its backing of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital as well the repatriation of the Palestinian refugees and protecting other Palestinian rights according to a 2002 Arab peace initiative and the UN resolutions
“These stances are not subjected to doubts as the history of the GCC states bears witness to those established and supportive stances,” Al Hajraf added.
The GCC comprises the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.