Qatari PM chairs Arab Peace Initiative Consultative meeting

HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani has presided over a consultative meeting on the sidelines of the Monitoring Committee of the Arab Peace Initiative meeting due to be held here later tonight. The meeting, which was held this evening, was attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Arab League Secretary General Dr. Nabil Al-Arabi and heads of the participating delegations. Prior to the meeting, sources told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the consultative meeting discusses the latest developments in the region. For his part, the Arab League Assistant General Secretary, Ahmed bin Helli said the Monitoring Committee of the Arab Peace Initiative meeting aims to approve a plan for the Arab move until September, the date when the Palestinian Authority (PA) will apply for the United Nations'' recognition of Palestine as member state. He underlined the Arab States'' commitment to the PA decision to ask the UN to recognize the PA''s UN bid, noting the importance of the current meeting, held as part of the Monitoring Committee''s series of meetings meant to mobilize international support for the Palestinian bid. Participating Foreign Ministers are scheduled to discuss in a separately meeting Thursday the situation in Libya and Syria, said bin Helli. Participates in meetings of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee include Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria, Palestine, UAE, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Oman and Sudan.