Arab League Deputy Secretary General Praises Qatar's Role in Addressing Darfur Crisis

Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ambassador Ahmed Ben Helli, on Thursday praised the role being played by the State of Qatar in addressing the crisis in Darfur at its regional and international dimensions.
 In an interview with Arabic daily "Al Watan" published today, Ben Helli said the Qatari projects on the ground have contributed to the creation of a reconciliation environment between the Sudanese, enabling the Sudanese government to build on this achievement by providing a reconciliation initiative on the Sudanese level.
In this context, he called on all parties to respond to this reconciliation initiative. Sudan has been subjected to very serious tremors and now it began to recover, he said, referring in this regard to the " complicated" Darfur issue.  He also shed light on the importance of the Arab Food Security Initiative, which was introduced by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir focused basically at growing wheat to meet Arab citizens' nutritional needs and achieve Arab food security with the contributions of Arab and international financial institutions and scheduled to implemented during the next phase. 
 On the upcoming Arab Summit to be held in Amman, Jordan, Ben Helli said the Arab League is intensely in preparation for this Summit and is developing points and agendas through ongoing consultation with Jordan. The Amman summit will focus on adjusting the joint Arab action after the political and economic crisis witnessed by the Arab region, he said, stressing the Arab League's keenness to hold periodic meetings on regular basis regardless of their outcomes and the level of decisions. 
The Arab League deputy secretary general said the Arab region is in a historic crossroads, especially as societies fall apart by ideologies that adopt extremism and terrorism, which, he said, contradict religion and traditions and have repercussions not just for governments but also for intelligence networks, with ISIS being an example. He added that this means there are masterminds that operate in a way that aims to maintain the backwardness, turmoil and crises in the region. 
On the situation in Syria, Ben Helli said the Arab role in the crisis can't be canceled because Syria is a pivotal Arab country and is going through an extremely complicated conflict. He added that the country will be present somehow at the summit as it is considered part of the Arab national security and the security and stability of the region. 
Ben Helli said the Arab League tried to play a role in the crisis but was neither helped by the government nor the opposition to succeed, adding that the pan-Arab organization was deliberately hindered. 
The tyranny of the Syrian government and violent response to protests, the opportunism of the opposition, and other regional and international sides were all reasons why the Arab League's role was taken over by the United Nations, Ben Helli said. 
The Arab League deputy secretary general said all the proposals promoted at Geneva and Astana are not new and were previously submitted by Arab countries and the Arab committee on Syria, which was in touch with the Syrian government even after it was frozen out of the Arab League, in parallel with talks with the opposition. 
Ben Helli said a political settlement is something that only the Syrian government and opposition can decide to prove the extent of their seriousness about having a united territory or whether they have become a tool for international conflict. 
He added that there is a "faint hope" of a political settlement that involves Syrian sides returning to negotiations and the dialogue table in order to reach an agreement on how to rebuild Syria politically and developmentally, noting that Syria's vacant seat at the Arab League will be filled when there is a Syrian agreement on a transitional or national unity government. 
As for the Palestinian issue, Ben Helli said it remains the main cause and is an state of complete stagnation, adding that the current extremist Israeli government can't be trusted after it proved to be irresponsible and has no sense for the value of regional peace and stability, which, he added, was indicative in its endeavors to change the Palestinian reality and create serious repercussions to hide the basics of the main issue of ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital as well as withdrawing to the 1967 borders. 
The Arab League deputy secretary general said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet can't manipulate the Palestinian cause more than they did in the recent period because it has become an international issue and affects the global security and peace but is currently going through a difficult phase after Israel blew up all the initiatives to resolve the issue and archive regional stability. 
Arabs should be very active and particularly provide financial and political support for the Palestinians, Ben Helli said. 
He added that moving the US. embassy to Jerusalem violates Security council and international community resolutions, stressing the need to move to reach a solution, pointing to the two-state solution as the shortest way to settle the conflict.

Source: QNA