New York, September 22 (QNA) The Arab League called on African countries to support Palestine's equal right of full membership in the United Nations, as this would give the Palestinians the opportunity to negotiate from an equivalent level.
Mentioned at the opening session of the eighth ministerial meeting of the Coordinating Committee for the Arab-African Partnership, held on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly in New York.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit expressed hope that the African Union would reconsider accepting Israel as an observer member of the UN and appreciate the union's decision to establish a committee of chairpersons for further discussion on this issue.
He also considered that accepting Israel as an observer member of the UN before establishing An Equitable, lasting settlement for the Palestinian cause would disappoint the Palestinians.
Arab League Secretary-General Affirmed that intensifying the institutional cooperation between the Arab League and African union is of huge importance in tackling crises, such as climate change, debt and others, noting the grave humanitarian situation in Somalia considering the famine risks and the importance of joint action to assist the federal government to address this crisis.
During the meeting, Aboul Gheit mentioned the Libyan crisis and its complexities and the political transition in Sudan, which was important for both the Arab and African sides.
He stressed the importance of coordination between the two sides to address common threats and issues, such as unorganized immigration. Referring to the importance of moving forward with the establishment of the Arab-African Centre for Exchanging Information on immigration and looked forward to the fifth Arab-African summit, to be held in Saudi Arabia next year.
(QNA)