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Arabs Support Palestinian Stance on Jerusalem, Refugees: Egypt FM
Arab foreign ministers expressed support for the Palestinians regarding their sovereignty over Muslim holy sites in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees' right of return, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said Thursday.
Moussa said, after a four-hour Arab foreign ministers' meeting held at the Cairo-based Arab League headquarters, that the ministers have given "unanimous" backing to the Palestinians who insist Palestinian sovereignty over the al-Aqsa mosque compound and the refugees' right to return to their homes.
The state-run Middle East News Agency quoted Moussa as saying that "there is a commitment in the Arab, Islamic and Christian world to the rights of the Palestinians over Jerusalem and refugees, the right to return in particular."
He said that there were still "clarifications and questions" on the U.S. President Bill Clinton's peace proposals for reaching a final settlement with Israel.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat submitted a detailed report to the ministers about his talks with Clinton in Washington on Tuesday and consulted with them on the US plan before he announces Palestinian response to it.
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian National Authority, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Tunisia met to unify the Arab stance on the issue.
Earlier in the day, Arafat updated Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the outcome of his trip to Washington, where he tried to seek clarifications from Clinton.
White House spokesman Jake Siewert said Wednesday that Arafat has given conditional acceptance to Clinton's proposals as a basis to restart Mideast peace talks.
The outgoing U.S. president presented a compromise plan on December 23, which will give the Palestinians sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods and the al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, but deny the Palestinian refugees' right of return.
Under the plan, Israel will have sovereignty over the Wailing Wall, the holiest shrine in Judaism, and part of the Armenian quarter in the Old City of East Jerusalem.
Israel has accepted the proposals in principle while the Palestinians expressed deep reservations.
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