Jeddah: Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Friday reaffirmed the Arab resolve not to allow the region to descend into a zone of conflict.
“We assure friendly countries in the East and the West that we are moving forward in peace. We will not allow our region to turn into a zone of conflict,” the Crown Prince said while opening the 32nd Arab League summit.
Saudi Arabia assumed the presidency of the 22-member bloc in Jeddah Friday afternoon.
In his presidential speech, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated that the Arab region is fed up with conflicts.
“It is enough for us, with turning the page of the past, to remember the painful years of conflicts that the region lived through. It is enough for us to have conflicts that the peoples of the region suffered from and because of which development was faltered in the region,” he said.
Prince Mohammed highlighted the untapped potential of the Arab world, saying that the Arab states enjoy enough cultural capabilities and human and natural resources to assume a leading position and achieve prosperity in all fields.
The Arab leaders who are attending the summit included Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, King Abdullah of Jordan, Tunisian President Kais Saied, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Rashad Muhammad Al-Alimi, UAE Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs Sayyid Asaad bin Tarik Al-Said, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Al-Assad attended the summit for the first time in 12 years whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended the summit as the guest of honor.
The Crown Prince welcomed Syrian President Al-Assad back into the Arab fold, saying: “We hope that Syria’s return to the Arab League will be an end to its crisis.”
The 32nd Arab League Summit concluded by adopting the Jeddah Declaration, which calls for Arab unity to solve regional issues, state media reported.
The declaration welcomed Syria's readmission to the Arab League (AL), vowing to intensify pan-Arab efforts to help Syria tackle its crisis, Al Arabiya TV reported on Friday.
It underlined the Arab Peace Initiative to solve the Palestinian issues, urged for the de-escalation of tensions in Sudan, called for the election of a new Lebanese President and the required reforms to lift Lebanon out of its crisis, and supported initiatives to promote security and stability in Yemen, Xinhua news agency reported.
The declaration rejected foreign interference in the domestic affairs of Arab countries and "categorically reject all support for the formation of armed groups and militias outside the scope of state institutions".
#BREAKING Saudi crown prince shakes hands with Syrian President Assad at Arab league summit after 12 years of Syria's suspension pic.twitter.com/VQeoaxyBsy— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) May 19, 2023
#BREAKING Saudi crown prince shakes hands with Syrian President Assad at Arab league summit after 12 years of Syria's suspension pic.twitter.com/VQeoaxyBsy
At a press conference to brief on the summit, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud was quoted by Al Arabiya TV as saying that the Jeddah Declaration will reinforce joint Arab work.
The Minister affirmed that the Palestinian cause remains the Arab's pivotal cause, expressed hope that Syria's return to the Arab fold would contribute to ending the Syrian crisis, and called on the Sudanese warring parties to resort to dialogue to put an end to the current armed clashes.
AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit highlighted the success of the Jeddah summit in achieving its goal, expressing hope that the summit would be a beginning for the Arab countries to grasp their fate in their own hands.
The 32nd Arab League Summit kicked off in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Friday with the participation of Arab leaders to discuss regional and global issues that are crucial to the region's stability.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attended the summit for the first time since his country was suspended from the Arab League after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
In the summit, Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane handed over the rotating presidency of the Arab League to Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
The one-day summit focuses mainly on Syria’s return to the Arab League and the volatile situation in Sudan and the Palestinian cause. The pan-Arab summit brings together 22 member countries represented by the respective heads of state and government along with five observer nations.
For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App.
Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
