Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa has said he appreciates Washington's efforts to resolve the Israeli settlement issue, but stressed that more needs to be done. Moussa said discussion was taking place over when to hold the next Peace Initiative Committee meeting to assess the situation and “discuss what position the US may take.” He also said that alternatives would continue to be searched for, and explained that “the Security Council is one of the main alternatives and may be resorted to in order to address the urgent settlement issue and to involve the UN, in particular the Security Council, once again in the Palestinian cause.” Moussa said this was “a strategic decision as it involves putting forward a new Arab proposal for the management of the peace process since the 1991 Madrid Conference did not lead to any results and new policies are now needed.” He went on to say that Arab nations may resort “to the General Assembly and the Security Council to demand the official declaration of an independent Palestinian state which is included as a member in the United Nations.” Moussa refused the idea of holding a new conference, saying, “We've had enough of conferences and initiatives which no longer convince the public nor benefit anyone. What matters is the situation on the ground, in other words there are specific points which must be dealt with before we begin thinking about holding any more charades or conferences.” When asked whether the next Arab summit would be held in Baghdad, Moussa said, “We only discussed preparations for the upcoming economic and social development summit which will be held in Sharm al-Sheikh in January.” In response to a question on whether inter-Arab differences would affect Arab participation in the economic summit, he said, “I expect heavy participation at the Sharm al-Sheikh economic summit as its agenda is of interest to all Arab countries, and discussing economic and social development issues is no less important than discussing political issues.” He added, “I also believe there will be strong participation at the next ordinary session, especially after the political crisis in Iraq has ended, which I hope will bring political stability and security to the Iraqi people.” Translated from the Arabic Edition.
