RIYADH, 6 February 2007 — Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah said yesterday that the Gulf countries are in favor of the establishment of a national unity government in Palestine.
“Such an initiative would speed up the peace process,” he said.
Leaders of the Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah as well as the Palestinian Authority are meeting in Makkah today in an attempt to hammer out differences.
Speaking to reporters from the GCC headquarters in Riyadh, Al-Attiyah said that during his discussions with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel he called for a greater role of the European Union to persuade Israel to adhere to international resolutions.
“There are many peace initiatives that have been proposed, but what is most important is that Israel respond to such proposals,” he said. “This was one of the things Merkel and I agreed on.”
He said Merkel had shared his hopes that the groups would “put forward the supreme national interests of the Palestinian people.” He said he was hopeful that the Palestinian groups would reach an agreement to form a unified national government that would deal with the situation on the ground and adhere to international resolutions.
Merkel said Germany, as the current European Union president, would throw its weight behind the reconciliation talks in Makkah. “We will do everything in our power to ensure the talks are successful,” Merkel said, adding the EU would stay in close contact with Saudi Arabia.
The GCC secretary-general conveyed to the German chancellor the worries of the Gulf countries on the situation in Iraq.
“Merkel expressed her country’s deep concern over the Iraq situation. She also expressed her worries about any foreign interference in Iraqi domestic issues, saying that such moves would be disastrous,” Al-Attiyah said.
Merkel met with UAE President Khalifa ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan yesterday as part of her talks with the Gulf leaders on efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.
Merkel later told the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies in a speech on EU foreign policy that reaching a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “absolutely central to bringing stability to the region”. “This is simply because other conflicts in the region cannot be solved if this conflict is yet to be settled.”
