¡°2014 – The International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People¡±

The Joint Meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People with the League of Arab States was held in Cairo on 10 March 2014. The meeting was convened to reinforce the critical support of all Arab States for the International Year. It also served to provide support to the State of Palestine in the ongoing peace talks and to reinforce Arab solidarity with the Palestinian people and their State. On March 9, the day before the Joint Meeting, Chairman of the Committee Amb. Abdou Salam Diallo addressed the Foreign Ministers assembled for the opening session of the 141st Arab League Council.

The Joint Meeting on 10 March was attended by 32 Committee Members and Observers, including 13 Members of the Arab League. The meeting was chaired by Amb. Diallo and the opening session included remarks by H.E. Nabil Fahmy, Foreign Minister of Egypt, H.E. Riad Malki, Foreign Minister of the State of Palestine and H.E. Nabil Elaraby, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. Amb. Diallo also delivered welcome remarks on behalf of the Committee. The main session of the meeting included statements by the Foreign Ministers of Bahrain, H.E. Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, Libya: H.E. Mohamed Abdulaziz, and Tunisia: H.E. Mongi Hamdi, and Ministers of State from Bangladesh, H.E. Shahriar Alam, and Sri Lanka, H.E. Athauda Seneviratne. The Deputy Foreign Minister of South Africa, the Director General for Bilateral Political Affairs of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Assistant Secretary-General of the OIC for Palestine Affairs also delivered statements. In addition, 16 Ambassadors accredited to the LAS and Egypt delivered statements on behalf of their Foreign Ministers in support of the International Year. The Meeting adopted the Cairo joint declaration.

Programme –
Joint Declaration –

H.E. Mr. Nabil Elaraby, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States

H.E. Mr. Abdou Salam Diallo, Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

H.E. Mr. Riad Malki, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine

H.E. Mr. Nabil Fahmy, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt