Panafrican News Agency

Libyan Foreign Minister calls for promotion of joint Arab action

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mrs. Najal Al-Mangouch said that the 158th ordinary ministerial session of the Arab League Council will be an opportunity to promote joint Arab action, outlining the challenges facing Arab countries today in a global context marked by the deterioration of living conditions and economies.

Opening the meeting on Tuesday in Cairo, Egypt, Mrs. Al-Mangouch said: "It is a matter of personal and professional pride for me to chair our honourable council today as the first Arab woman and foreign minister to assume the duties of this pivotal position."

She gave the assurance that this is a good indication of the development of political work in the region despite the difficulties faced by the political participation of Arab women.

"The Arab citizen is following the work of our council today in the midst of deteriorating conditions in many of our Arab countries due to the chronic economic problems that have accompanied decades of past tension and the complex details of internal conditions in many member states of this august institution," Mrs. Al-Mangouch stressed.

She recalled that over the past 10 years, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons has increased to millions in the world and in the countries of the Arab region.

Mrs. Al-Mangouch said it is incumbent upon the leaders to shoulder their responsibility to support the restoration of stability in the region and to restore hope to the peoples, and to work together to address these historic challenges as a means of providing for the needs of our peoples.

The Libyan minister affirmed that adopting a policy of comprehensive dialogue on all common Arab issues and understanding the concerns of all is an important entry point for reviving dialogue and joint Arab action.

Mrs. Al-Mangouch recalled that the historical attachment of the Arab peoples to the central cause of Palestine, obliges them to work more effectively in order to hinder the continued Israeli practices of Judaization of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the continued expansion of settlements that are rejected and violate the UN and Security Council resolutions on the Palestinian issue.

She said that the unity of the Palestinian people is the only option to unify the Arab position by putting pressure on the actors of the international system that support peace in the Arab region.

The Libyan Foreign Minister called on Arab countries to work together to give hope to the people of Yemen and not to let the paths to a peaceful and political solution collapse in order to ensure the safety of civilians in both Yemen and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and their Gulf neighbours.

She also praised the Saudi role in resolving the Yemeni crisis, which resulted in the Riyadh agreement, which represents a historic opportunity to reach a peaceful solution to the Yemeni crisis.

"We also call for the unity of efforts of the countries in the region to protect maritime navigation and secure the movement of ships and energy supplies in order to guarantee the interests of all countries bordering and near the waterways that are vital to the region's economy and the world," she added.

Mrs. Al-Mangouch said the unity of the Arab position regarding these challenges that affect energy sources and corridors must be of equal strength in the light of what faces Egypt and Sudan in the issue of the Renaissance Dam being constructed by Ethiopia, which requires the support of the official Arab position for their right to defend their water security through negotiation and direct and continuous communication with Ethiopia on all details related to the dam.

-0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/MA 6Sept2022