NEW YORK, Feb 22 (KUNA) -- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on Thursday chaired an informal meeting format of the UN Security Council that came to be known as the "Arria-formula" to discuss the Palestinian cause.
The State of Kuwait called for holding the session as it holds the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) presidency.
The Kuwaiti request comes to focus on how to provide required capabilities to revive the stalled peace process, mainly in the presence of regional and international initiatives adopted by the Security Council.
Such initiatives can provide a clear path towards a solution that will help Palestinians establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital through the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and the Arab peace initiative.
Addressing the meeting, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said: I welcome you all to this informal meeting, "Arria Formula", which is an available method to members of the Security Council that will enhance relations among the the Security Council, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations so as to shed light on a specific issue." He added that Kuwait seizes the opportunity of holding the presidency of the Security Council for this current month to activate the 507th memorandum pertaining to the improvement of the Council's action methods by holding this meeting to discuss the oldest international cause in the contemporary history.
The Kuwaiti minister thanked France, Sweden and Bolivia for taking part in organizing this key meeting.
He also welcomed Ambassador Richard Murphy, researcher at the Middle East Institute, former senior fellow of the Council on foreign relations and former representative of former US president Jimmy Carter, and Robert Serry, former UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, and Karen AbuZayd, former commissioner-general of the Un Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as well as HE Jan Egeland, former UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled added that the United Nations Charter has stated that the purposes of the UN are to maintain international peace and security. To achieve this, the UN takes effective joint measures to prevent and eliminate threats to the peace, and suppresses acts of aggression and others which breach peace as well as develops friendly relations among nations on the basis of mutual respect among peoples and that each nation has the right to determine its destiny, the Kuwaiti minister noted.
He said that the responsibility of the Security Council is to maintain international peace and security in order to achieve those ends. "Therefore, we as members of UNSC should take appropriate measures to enforce principles of justice and international law," he pointed out.
Ending the Israeli occupation of both Arab and Palestinian territories that lasted for 70 years is the main aim, he indicated.
"International and regional initiatives adopted by the UN Security Council resolutions are a clear path for us to achieve our goals represented in ending the Israeli occupation of the Arab and Palestinian land, and helping Palestinians set up their independent state, on the basis of the June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as enabling them to obtain their inalienable rights," he explained.
"However, we are witnessing a frightening decline in the Middle East peace process because Israel didn't implement the relevant Security Council resolutions," he said.
The minister pointed out that tragedies of unarmed Palestinians in the face of serious violations of international humanitarian laws committed by Israel oblige "us to move effectively to confront Israel's practices", including the halt of settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory in accordance with the Security Council resolution 2334 and the lifting of the unjust blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than 10 years that has disastrous consequences on Palestinians.
The minister paid tribute to the vital role of the United Nations and its specialized agencies in providing various support and assistance to Palestinians.
He also referred to UNRWA, which he considered the oldest and most successful agency on the practical level and contributed to achieving stability in the Middle East region.
He called for providing necessarily required funding for UNRWA to help it continue offering vital services to the refugee community and to preserve its work and humanitarian activities without politicization.
He also renewed Kuwait's support for the activities of UNRWA and all UN agencies seeking to alleviate the grave consequences of the continued Israeli occupation.
Finally, the minister reiterated the country's determination to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East through accelerating and intensifying international and regional diplomatic efforts seeking to implement all relevant United Nations resolutions, including 242, 338 and 1515. (end) asf.msa.hm