The leaders of Arab countries started their Arab Summit at its 25th regular session in the State of Kuwait today. The delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Summit is headed, on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, by Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense. Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani highlighted, in his speech at the 25th Arab Summit, some of the pressing issues in the region, most prominently the Palestinian cause and the Syrian crisis. He Stressed the importance of finding a peaceful solution for the Palestinian cause, calling for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories and setting up an independent state of Palestine on the borders of the June 4, 1967 with East Al-Quds as its capital. He pointed out that Israeli policies have been undermining the peace process in the region by stalling the implementation of relevant UN resolutions and adding new condition in each negotiations' rounds. The Qatari Emir pointed to the his country's efforts in alleviating the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who were under an Israeli siege by extending humanitarian support for them. He called on all Arab countries to provide humanitarian and financial aid to the Palestinians under siege and rebuild their lands until the Palestinian acquire their rights. He also pointed to the Syrian crisis that needs more attention from Arab and international communities to end the ongoing bloodshed. He said that the stubborn Syrian regime has stalled all peace negotiations to end the crisis and has continued committing crimes against the people. Sheikh Tamim said the Arab nations should exert all efforts through Arab and international channels to end the crisis because 'Syria has suffered enough.' He emphasized the importance of supporting development in the Arab region in all domains to achieve the aspiration of the people. Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah delivered a speech at the Summit in which he expressed regret for the widening disputes among Arab countries, saying the Syrian crisis was threatening international security. The Emir said that disputes in the Arab world were widening and undermining 'our existence, values, hopes and aspirations, and we have become preoccupied with them at the expense of our ability to confront the challenges.' He called for 'an honest stance to achieve unity' among the Arab countries. 'We should address these differences and unite and work together to overcome the disputes,' asserted the Kuwaiti Emir. He added that 'we cannot go ahead with our common Arab action with our differences loaming in the horizons ... (which are) wasting our time.' He meanwhile said the Syrian crisis, which was entering its fourth year, has been claiming tens of thousands of innocent people, destroying every sign of life and displacing around half of the Syrian population. Sheikh Sabah cited a report by UNICEF which noted that the Syrian conflict forced displacement of 5.5 million children, three million children were not going to school and the mortality rate among children was the highest among any other conflict 'in our present time. 'We are before a painful reality, and humanitarian, moral and legal crisis, and condemnation will not be enough ...,' he said. He said the conflict in Syria spelled over beyond the Syrian borders and became a threat to the security of the world. 'We reiterate our call on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to live up to its responsibility to restore international peace and security, and to end this crisis,' he said. 'We feel the suffering of our brothers (in Syria) and work hard to alleviate their suffering,' he said. The Emir said that Kuwait answered UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's calls and hosted two donors' conferences for the Syrian people, which succeeded in collecting USD four billion in pledges for the Syrians. Kuwait 'succeeded in achieving the objective of the conferences, to contribute to alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people,' he said. The Emir said Kuwait has transferred all its pledges to the UN agencies to use to in the provision of necessary aid for the Syrian people. He said terrorism has undermined development in the Arab countries. 'We all suffer from the terrorism phenomenon, which has been on the rise recently under religious and dogmatic pretext, which aims at killing innocent souls, terrorizing people and hampering development. The target is the global security and stability, and the entire humanity,' said the Emir. He asserted that the heavenly faiths were rejecting terrorism. 'We (Arab countries) share the burden to confront this dangerous phenomenon,' he added. 'We should double our efforts and join international efforts to uproot this dangerous phenomenon regardless of its source and to rid humanity from its threats ,' he said. The Emir, meanwhile, said the Israeli mentality was rejecting peace in the region. Israel, he added, was insisting on building more settlement. 'We will not have a settlement nor peace unless Israel relinquish its hostile policy and seek peace.' A just and comprehensive peace in the region will not be achieved but with the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital in line with the UN resolutions, land-for-peace principle and the Arab peace initiative, he said. The Emir called on the UNSC to exercise pressure on Israel to abide by the international legitimacy and stop the settlement expansion, praising the US efforts to resume the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis. He, on the other hand, said the summit was held amidst critical and difficult circumstances in the world and the region. He said the Arab countries should boost consultations among each other to pin point the path to a genuine common Arab action and honor aspirations of the Arab people. 'We should address the foundations of our common action to strengthen them, and to focus on our common ground,' he said. Sheikh Sabah said the 'great success' of the Arab Economic summits 'affirmed accuracy of our vision which thus encourages us to explore further horizons to boosting our unity and bring our peoples closer. 'Our common action cannot be achieved without sustainable development,' he said. The Emir called on Iran to honor obligations in the interim agreement signed with the P5+1 on November 24 2013 under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He noted that the agreement aimed at brushing aside worries about Iran's nuclear program and clear tensions in the region so the Arab countries could pay more attention to development.
