Arab League to convene meeting on Libya, Palestine

Deputy Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmad Bin Helli said Monday the League's Council decided to continue consultations for holding an emergency ministerial meeting to discuss the next steps vis-a-vis the situations in Libya and Palestine.
Bin Helli reaffirmed support to Libya's legitimate institutions, notably the House of Representatives and the interim government.
He was speaking at a joint press conference with Mauritanian permanent delegate to the league Wedadi Ould Sidi following the emergency meeting of the League's Council, held at the permanent-delegate level.
Mauritania is the current presidency of the Council.
"Neighboring countries play a pivotal role in efforts to find a negotiated peaceful settlement to the situations in Libya in collaboration with Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Bernardino Leon," he said.
"Libya is in need of all forms of support including the political and military to help shore up its legitimate institutions and rebuild its army," he said, noting that it's a top priority not to stop the violence in the country.
Regarding the statement adopted by the League's Council, he said it showed that the Arab countries are unanimous on solidarity with Libya though there was a heated debate on how to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table.
On Palestine, Bin Helli said the permanent delegates sent urgent messages to the Arab foreign ministers to remind them of the decision of Kuwait Arab Summit to provide funding for the Palestinian Authority (PA) amounting to USD 100 million per month.
"This funding is more crucial than ever as the PA is preparing to join several international conventions, foremost among which is the International Criminal Court (ICC)," he stressed, adding that the Arab diplomatic support to Palestine with not stop after the UN Security Council failed to approve a draft resolution seeking an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
On his part, Ould Sidi, said called for doubling the regional and international efforts aiming to put an end to the conflict in Libya through political dialogue involving all parties.
He affirmed that consultations are going on to convene a ministerial council meeting soon, adding that the Council asked the League's Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby to make the necessary arrangements for the meeting.
Source: KUNA