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Contribute $100m a month to PA, AL asks members
Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo Sunday supported a Palestinian request for an international peace conference aimed at reaching a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
They stressed “the importance of of holding an international peace conference on the Palestinian issue,” in a statement.
The international meeting would seek “an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories and to reach a comprehensive solution to the issues of borders, security, Jerusalem and refugees based on the Arab peace initiative.”
The Arab League also called on its members to contribute financially to support the Palestinian authority with 100 million dollars a month.
The 22-member body said the funds were needed “in light of the financial strain on the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people, with Israel not transferring the rightful money of the Palestinian Authority.”
Palestinian official Azzam Al-Ahmad, in Cairo with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas for talks with the Arab League representatives, had said earlier the delegation would seek backing for the conference, without giving further details.
“One of the proposals we will request from the Arab Follow-Up Committee is for a call to convene an international peace conference on the Palestinian issue,” Ahmad told AFP in Ramallah by telephone.
He said the Palestinian delegation was hopeful “that the final statement of the Follow-Up Committee would include a call for an international conference on the Palestinian issue.”
Abbas was in Cairo for talks with the committee, which tracks efforts to advance peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, after five rounds of “exploratory” talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
The discussions, intended to chart a return to direct negotiations, ended without a deal to continue talks.
Sponsored by the peacemaking Quartet and held in Jordan, the discussions came in the framework of a Quartet bid to kick-start talks.
