On Wednesday, ‘s acting ambassador, who currently chairs the Arab Group at the United Nations, formally requested that the U.N. Security Council hold a ministerial meeting in September to launch a new effort to settle all Arab-Israeli conflicts and restore peace to the Middle East.
In a letter to the council president Wednesday, ‘s ambassador to the United Nations, asked the council to hold an open meeting between Sept. 19-25 when ministers will be in New York for the General Assembly’s annual ministerial session.
Omer Bashir Manis, the Sudanese envoy, said the request was in accordance with a decision of Arab League foreign ministers on Aug. 20 who want the ministerial meeting "to consider the settlement of the Arab-Israel conflict on all issues," according to an unofficial translation.
The Arab League says a settlement should include establishing a Palestinian state, settling the Golan Heights issue with , and promoting peace with after this summer’s brutal 34-day war.
‘s U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman said last week he doubted a new Arab League initiative would fairly consider ‘s security needs, insisting the "road map" for peace unveiled in 2003 remained the only viable option.
The "road map" was drafted by the U.N., the , the European Union and and aimed to establish a Palestinian state by 2005. But it, as with many other "peace initiatives", has languished amid repeated Israeli assaults on the Palestinian people
The Security Council will likely consider the request in the coming days.
"I think so far we have been receiving favorable reactions from most members of the Security Council," the Arab League’s envoy to the United Nations, Yahya Mahmassani, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
"In view of the deteriorating situation in and Palestine and the deadlock the peace process has reached, I think it’s very important that the Security Council shoulders its responsibility and finds a mechanism to implement its resolutions," he said.
The Arab League is working on proposals for a new initiative and Mahmassani said one of the basic elements will be the Arab Peace Initiative launched by and adopted by the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002. This effort was rejected by the Israeli government.
The Arab peace plan calls on to withdraw from all territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war, the establishment of a Palestinian state, and a solution for Palestinian refugees. Palestinians want Gaza, the West Bank and traditionally Arab east Jerusalem for their future state, while wants the return of the Golan Heights.
Under the plan, would receive full recognition once it fulfills the Arab conditions.
