Halt Israel aggression – UAE

UAE President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan yesterday sent a message to the Arab summit conference in Amman.

The following is the full text of Sheikh Zayed's message:

Your Majesty King Abdullah bin Al Hussein of Jordan, Chairman of the Arab Summit in Amman.

I would like to express my congratulations to Your Majesty for your chairing of the summit and for your prudent administration of its sessions, an important factor in the success of the meeting.

I would like also to extend my salutations to Your Majesty, and my brethren, Their Majesties, Highnesses and Excellencies, the leaders of the Arab countries, and to His Excellency the Secretary-general of the League of Arab States.

It was my sincere wish that I would be able to participate in this gathering of the Arab summit, which is the first of the regularly scheduled annual Arab summit conferences.

I am following, with great interest, the sessions of the conference, and I am satisfied and happy because that which we have been calling for has been achieved.

Your Majesty, the spirit of understanding and brotherhood which has prevailed during your sessions and discussions has brought me great satisfaction.

Your serious deliberations on the key issues on your agenda have proved that sincere intentions and frankness are the way for us to achieve success.

On this occasion, I would like to assure you that my position is the same as your's. It is a position that is based on solidarity, cohesiveness and a unity of approach.

Dialogue is essential between brothers, and we are happy because the Arabs recognise the correct path to follow towards reconciliation and solidarity, and to surmount the negative elements and mistakes of the past, in order to move away from divisions and rifts between them. We will be accountable to Almighty God if we do not shoulder our responsibilities towards our nation and peoples.

Your Majesty, we strongly support you in all your efforts to rebuild Arab solidarity and, in that context, we support all resolutions that would strengthen joint Arab action. You have examined the dangerous situation in which the Palestinian people now live. For my part, and with you, I salute their steadfastness and their praiseworthy intifada, which is imbued with the spirit of sacrifice, in defence of their land and their holy shrines and of their legitimate rights.

This is taking place at a time when the forces of occupation are launching their aggression against the Palestinian people, using all means of repression and all types of weapons, imposing a suffocating siege, and engaging in the destruction of property, the damaging of the environment, and the imposition of isolation upon villages, towns and cities, in flagrant violation of international conventions and without regard for international resolutions.

At this juncture, we re-emphasise that Israel will not behave in accordance with right and justice unless the Arabs adopt a unified position. The United Arab Emirates calls upon the international community and the sponsors of the peace process, in particular the United States and the European Union, to intervene immediately to halt the Israeli aggression, and to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.

It further demands the implementation of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, so that the Palestinian people can regain their legitimate rights and establish their independent state, with Jerusalem as its capital. We would like to stress our support of your decision relating to the necessity of adhering to the Security Council resolutions on the city of Jerusalem.

These emphasise that all Israeli actions to change the nature of the city are considered to be null and void. We express our support also for our decision to ask all countries not to move their embassies to Jerusalem, and reaffirm that we will sever relations with all countries that do so, or, in any other way, recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Your Majesty, we are grateful to the Arab leaders for the decision that they have taken in support of the United Arab Emirates in all the actions and peaceful initiatives it is taking to restore its sovereignty over its three occupied islands of the Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa, and for their call upon Iran that it should end its occupation and should cease trying to create facts by force.

Your Majesty, as you know, we follow a policy based on wisdom and reconciliation and on seeking the resolution of conflicts, problems and disputes through dialogue, peaceful means, mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. We believe also in the principles of good neighbourly relations.

It is from this belief and policy that our sincere desire to build bridges with Muslim, neighbourly Iran stems. We repeat our call that Iran should end its occupation through peaceful means, and in accordance with the principles of international law, through direct negotiations, or by referral of the issue to the International Court of Justice.

Over the past years, Iran has worked to consolidate its occupation of these three Arab islands through numerous violations and by carrying our military exercises on the islands and in their territorial waters, as seen most recently by building housing in which Iranians can be settled.

The Iranian actions in the three occupied islands seek to alter the demographic structure of their population, through a systematic and continuous government programme. The most recent of such Iranian measures was the visit paid to the islands by the national security and foreign policy committee of the Iranian parliament. This was a move which constituted a flagrant intervention in the internal affairs of the United Arab Emirates.

The International Court of Justice has been responsible for the resolution of many border disputes, most recently of that between our brethren in Bahrain and Qatar. We are confident that Iranian acceptance of our initiative will contribute in a significant way to the creation of an atmosphere of security and stability in the region, and will reinforce mutual confidence.

The decision of the summit conference to ask the followup committee to inform Iran of its concern at the lack of response from Iran, and to ask the secretary general of the Arab League to become seized of the issue underlines the importance that you attach to this issue.

Through you, we call upon the Arab leaders to adopt a decisive pan-Arab position towards Iran, because of its rejection of all calls to end its occupation of the three Arab islands by peaceful means.

Your Majesty, I have followed your positive deliberations and extensive discussions, and your grasp of the worries felt with relation to the case between Kuwait and Iraq.

We renew here our call for Iraq to cooperate in completing its implementation of its obligations, and in the finding of a final resolution of the question of Kuwaiti prisoners and detainees, as well as those of other countries, as well as that of the restitution of Kuwaiti assets, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.

We are all deeply concerned at the deterioration in the condition of the people of I