DOHA (AA) - March 27, 2013 - Final declaration of the 24th Arab League Summit, that was held in Doha, capital of Qatar on March 26, underlined the importance of a political solution in Syria.
The 24th Arab League Summit released Tuesday its "Doha Declaration", which was read by the Deputy Arab-League Secretary-General Ahmed Ben Helli. "Doha Declaration" said solving Syria crisis through political means was important, and every country has the right to support Syrians and Free Syrian Army, or FSA, for them to protect themselves against Assad regime's attacks, by any means, including military support.
It condemned in the strongest terms the dangerous military escalation by the Syrian regime forces against the Syrians, and the persistence of violence and mass murder by the Syrian regime against the civilian population in most Syrian territory.
It also strongly condemned the Syrian regime's use of heavy weapons, warplanes and scud missiles to bomb the crowded residential areas. The declaration welcome the takeover by the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces to Syria's seat in the Arab League, its organizations, councils and organs. It emphasized the importance of efforts being taken in order to reach a political solution as a priority for the Syrian crisis, while stressing on the right of each member state, in accordance with its wish, to provide all means of self-defense, including military support to back the steadfastness of the Syrian people and the free army.
It called for an international conference in the framework of the United Nations for Syria reconstruction, urging states and regional and international organizations to recognize the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as a legitimate representative of the aspirations of the Syrian people. It also called on all regional and international institutions to provide all forms of assistance and support to enable the Syrian people defend themselves and continue their struggle to establish justice and rule of law in their country.
The statement welcomed the initiative made by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to establish a fund to support Al Quds worth one billion dollars to finance projects that conserve the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem and aid the Palestinian people in facing the policies of the Israeli occupation. The council also welcomed the Qatar's contribution with a quarter of that sum.
The Arab League called on the international community to work immediately on achieving fair peace that guarantees Israeli withdrawal from all Palestinian land as well as Arab land in Golan Heights. They also called for establishing an independent Palestinian state based on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital. They demanded that the United Nations Security Council takes all the necessary measures. The Council also expressed their rejection of having Israel declare itself a Jewish state. They also condemned illegal Israeli settlement activity taking place on Palestinian land including East Jerusalem, the council accused Israel of trying to change the demographic in those areas.
The council also greeted the Palestinian people for their resistance of Israeli occupation policies, and expressed its support to the resistance in Gaza strip and voiced their solidarity with Palestinian prisoners going on hunger strikes in Israeli jails.
The declaration appealed to the Palestinian leadership, all factions and national forces to restore national unity in order to maintain the gains of the Palestinian people and to continue to resist Israeli occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with sovereignty and its capital in East Jerusalem.
It was decided that a smaller summit for the implementation of Palestinian peace attended by Qatar, Palestine and SG of Arab League, headed by Egypt should be held soon.
