Advisory Council Speaker: Qatar Supports Palestinian Issue

Kuwait, March 05 (QNA) - Qatar's Advisory (SHURA) Council Speaker HE Mohamed bin Mubarak Al-Kholeifi said that the 18th session of Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) conference is convened amid intense and unique circumstances on the Arab, regional and international levels. HE said that on the political level, the Arab world is living a popular and rapid popular movement that led to major transformations in the ruling regimes and the parliamentary life of some countries, while other brotherly countries are still going through this change. In a speech given during the opening session as the 17th AIPU session president, HE Al Kholeifi said that he believes AIPU has proved its seriousness as an organization representing the aspirations and ambitions of the Arab parliaments, and added that the new session will be a great addition to the Arab parliamentary work. "This elite that represent our peoples will definitely come to a common ground where we all meet regarding our common issues," HE said as he addressed the conference. After his speech, HE delivered AIPU session presidency to Kuwait's Parliament Speaker Ahmed al-Saadoun. HE also gave the Qatari delegation speech where he said that the Palestinian issue remains the most prominent Arab and Islamic issue, pointing to the Palestinian people's exposure to the worst forms of torture, killings and arrests that has recently affected the Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian parliament and a number of parliamentarians. HE pointed to the continuous Israeli brutal attacks on homes and lands in addition to the process of Judaizing Jerusalem through practices that include expulsion of inhabitants; the withdrawal of Jerusalem identity cards; digging tunnels under the Aqsa Mosque; building settlements, seeking to obliterate anything that enhances their Islamic memory, and changing their geographical and demographic features. HE Mohamed bin Mubarak Al-Kholeifi reiterated Qatar's fixed and known positions in advocating the Palestinian people out of a Qatari belief in the Palestinian just issue that must be supported and assisted. Qatar's Advisory Council Speaker highlighted the Doha Declaration reconciliation agreement that was signed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Political Bureau Chief Khaled Meshaal after negotiations sponsored by HH the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. HE also pointed to the International Conference for the Defense of Jerusalem that Doha hosted in February, where HH the Emir called for going to the Security Council to demand a decision to form an international commission of enquiry to investigate Israel's practices in Jerusalem since 1967 that aimed at erasing its Arab and Islamic identity. "We appreciate and support the proposal of HH the Emir to go to the Security Council regarding the issue of Jerusalem. We also appeal to the international community to act for the immediate release of the Palestinian parliament speaker and all the representatives detained with him," HE the Advisory Council Speaker said. (QNA)