SlickArab22
August 2nd, 2006, 06:53 PM
President Ali Abdullah Saleh calls for immediate ceasefire
By Adnan Hizam
Aug 2, 2006 - Vol. IX. Issue25
President Ali Abdullah Saleh said what is happening in Lebanon and Palestine is because of the absence of Arab solidarity. “If there was a stronger Arab solidarity, Israel would not have committed such massacres before eyes of Arab countries,” Saleh said in an interview with Al-Jazeera, upon his visit to Qatar earlier this week.
He said the Arab reaction towards the miserable situation in Lebanon and Palestine was mere condemnation. He pointed out that Yemen had clearly expressed its stand through its proposal for holding an emergency Arab summit to discuss the Israeli war in Lebanon and the need to come out with unified Arab position in support for the resistance politically and materially.
“Unfortunately, the summit was canceled because only few Arab countries accepted the Yemeni initiative to hold the summit,” he said. “We withdrew our call to avoid further disagreement among Arab countries.” Only 14 out of 22 country members of the Arab League responded positively to Yemen’s call for holding.
Saleh thinks that different viewpoints of the Arab countries hindered holding the emergency summit. He said those countries felt that they ‘were not ready to enter a war led by Hezbollah that had captured two Israeli soldiers, while Israel detains more than ten thousand Arab prisoners. Saleh said that the issue is not the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers; it is an Israeli-made plot. “There is a plot for creating a new Middle East, which is so dangerous, not only to the Lebanese resistance or Syria or any Arab country, but in fact the plot aims at changing the region as a whole,” he said.
“That is why we called for an Arab summit to discuss a ceasefire first, and then to negotiate with Israel in accordance with the decisions of the Beirut summit, especially the initiative presented by King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz,” he added. President Saleh returned to Sana’a last Sunday after concluding a brief visit to Qatar at the invitation of that country’s Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifah al-Thani. During his visit, President Saleh attended discussions with the Emir, reportedly dealing with bilateral relations and the latest developments in the region, the most important of which were the Israeli aggressions against Palestine and Lebanon, and the massive civilian casualties that were the result.
The two leaders explored ways of coordinating the different Arab positions in order to present a unified front to address the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples. At the conclusion of their talks, the two leaders stressed the need for adopting an effective Arab attitude for ensuring a ceasefire in Lebanon and to provide continued material support to the Lebanese and the Palestinian peoples.
Copyright (c) 2006 Aug 2006
Yemen Observer Newspaper
By Adnan Hizam
Aug 2, 2006 - Vol. IX. Issue25
President Ali Abdullah Saleh said what is happening in Lebanon and Palestine is because of the absence of Arab solidarity. “If there was a stronger Arab solidarity, Israel would not have committed such massacres before eyes of Arab countries,” Saleh said in an interview with Al-Jazeera, upon his visit to Qatar earlier this week.
He said the Arab reaction towards the miserable situation in Lebanon and Palestine was mere condemnation. He pointed out that Yemen had clearly expressed its stand through its proposal for holding an emergency Arab summit to discuss the Israeli war in Lebanon and the need to come out with unified Arab position in support for the resistance politically and materially.
“Unfortunately, the summit was canceled because only few Arab countries accepted the Yemeni initiative to hold the summit,” he said. “We withdrew our call to avoid further disagreement among Arab countries.” Only 14 out of 22 country members of the Arab League responded positively to Yemen’s call for holding.
Saleh thinks that different viewpoints of the Arab countries hindered holding the emergency summit. He said those countries felt that they ‘were not ready to enter a war led by Hezbollah that had captured two Israeli soldiers, while Israel detains more than ten thousand Arab prisoners. Saleh said that the issue is not the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers; it is an Israeli-made plot. “There is a plot for creating a new Middle East, which is so dangerous, not only to the Lebanese resistance or Syria or any Arab country, but in fact the plot aims at changing the region as a whole,” he said.
“That is why we called for an Arab summit to discuss a ceasefire first, and then to negotiate with Israel in accordance with the decisions of the Beirut summit, especially the initiative presented by King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz,” he added. President Saleh returned to Sana’a last Sunday after concluding a brief visit to Qatar at the invitation of that country’s Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifah al-Thani. During his visit, President Saleh attended discussions with the Emir, reportedly dealing with bilateral relations and the latest developments in the region, the most important of which were the Israeli aggressions against Palestine and Lebanon, and the massive civilian casualties that were the result.
The two leaders explored ways of coordinating the different Arab positions in order to present a unified front to address the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples. At the conclusion of their talks, the two leaders stressed the need for adopting an effective Arab attitude for ensuring a ceasefire in Lebanon and to provide continued material support to the Lebanese and the Palestinian peoples.
Copyright (c) 2006 Aug 2006
Yemen Observer Newspaper