Foreign Minister H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan is heading the UAE delegation taking part in the 136th meeting of the GCC ministerial council, currently in session in Riyadh under the chairmanship of Qatari Foreign Minister Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah. Earlier, Sheikh Abdullah arrived in Riyadh and was received by Saudi Foreign Minister Adil Al Jubair, GCC Secretary General Dr. Abdulatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and the UAE Ambassador to Riyadh, Mohammed Saeed Mohammed Al Dhaheri.

The UAE delegation members included the Assistant Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Ahmed Al Jarmen; the UAE Ambassador to Riyadh, Mohammed Al Dhaheri; and the Director of the GCC Countries' Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, Ahmed Ali Al Baloushi.

The council renewed its solid stance with UAE against the Iranian occupation of the three islands, Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa. The council assured to support UAE's right of sovereignty on its three islands. The council also supports UAE's sovereignty on the territorial water, air space, the continental shelf and the economic region of the three islands. These islands are part of the United Arab Emirates. The council stresses that any Iranian resolution or action on the three islands is false and does not change the legal or historical facts that indicate UAE's Sovereignty. The council calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to United Arab Emirates efforts to settle the issue through direct negotiations or referring to the International Court of Justice.

The council welcomed the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on Sep. 11, 2015 to raise the Palestinian flag on UN premises, expressed appreciation of countries voted for the resolution, considering it as a significant step in the procession of the Palestinian cause and a victory for diplomatic efforts to gain recognition of their state.

It condemned Israeli occupation violations of Islamic and Christian sacred places, especially the attempts to change the legal status of Al Aqsa Mosque and the ongoing aggression committed by a number of Israeli officials and settlers against the sanctity of Al Aqsa Mosque, in a flagrant violation of simple human rights, exhort the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and to take all necessary measurements that would to protect the Palestinian people and religious sanctuaries.

The council welcomed the resolutions of the extraordinary meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee, which has been held in August 2015, confirming the right of the Palestinian people to establish its independent and fully sovereign state, with its capital, in Al Quds.

The session disapproved the joint statement issued by the UN Human Rights Council, proposed by the Swiss Federation and a number of states over the internal affairs, in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which included various fabrications and fallacies on human rights conditions, without taking into account advanced measures taken by Bahrain, which has been documented by several official bodies, in recently issued reports, ignoring the Government of the Kingdom attention paid towards adopting progressive strategies to corroborate human rights, in accordance with a sophisticated set to guarantee noble living hood for the citizenry, in order to exercise his full rights stipulated in the reformist plan of the King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain.

The council expressed support of all steps taken by Bahrain to consolidate the procession of human rights, in the Kingdom and applying all international resolution related to human rights, saying that the GCC member states, are in the context of taking necessary measurements to defend their interests, in this respect, against these countries which have taken that stance against the Kingdom of Bahrain and the other countries of the council.

The session has reviewed latest developments related to the joint action, expressing comfort at steps achieved to bring about integration between GCC member states, in all fields.

The Council strongly condemned the terrorist bombings that targeted mosques in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Council also condemned the terrorist acts suffered by the Kingdom of Bahrain recently, stressing the Council's support for the three countries.

The Council expressed its total rejection of the continuation of Iranian interference in the internal affairs of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The Council stressed the fundamentals, the basic principles and foundations based on the principle of good neighbourliness, respect of the sovereignty of states, non-interference in internal affairs and non-use or threat of use of force and expressed rejection of the statements by some officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, against the GCC countries and interference in their internal affairs.

The GCC Ministerial Council confirmed the steady positions of GCC member states on the importance of adhering to the agreement reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the group (5 +1) in July 2015, stressing the importance of the International Atomic Energy Agency's role in this regard and the need to apply an effective mechanism of verifying implementation of the agreement, inspection and monitor all Iranian nuclear sites, including military and re-imposing sanctions quickly and effectively, if Iran violated its obligations under the agreement. It emphasised, too, the importance of the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2231 of July 2015 on the nuclear deal, including with respect to the ballistic missiles and other weapons.

The Ministerial Council offered condolences on the Saudi, Emirati, Bahraini and Yemeni martyrs of duty in military operations in the Saudi-led Arab coalition forces in Yemen, stressing that the participation of the armed forces of the GCC countries in Operation Restoring Hope comes in defence of legitimacy, in Yemen and restoring security and stability there, as well as defending the safety and security of the GCC countries.

The Council commended the humanitarian efforts made by the GCC countries to introduce the maximum amount of humanitarian and medical assistance to the Yemeni people, noting the great humanitarian role played by King Salman Canter for Relief and Humanitarian Aid in this regard, calling for the international community to intensify humanitarian assistance in order to alleviate suffering of Yemeni brotherly people.

The Ministerial Council stressed the importance of a political solution in accordance with the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanism, the outputs of the comprehensive Yemeni National Dialogue, Riyadh Conference and the unconditional implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015).

The Ministerial Council hailed victories achieved by the Popular Resistance and the National Army loyal to the legitimacy against Houthi militias and the forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh. It hailed also the liberation of the city of Aden and a number of other Yemeni cities.

The GCC Ministerial Council urged the international community to shoulder its responsibility in supporting Syrian refugees, praising the efforts and assistance provided by the GCC countries to alleviate suffering of Syrian displaced and refugees, inside and abroad.

The Council welcomed UN Security Council resolution No. 2235 of August 2015 on the establishment of a joint mechanism between the United Nations and the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to identify those responsible for the use of chemicals, including chlorine gas, during the conflict in Syria.

The Ministerial Council stressed a political solution to the Syrian crisis based on the Geneva statement 1 (June 2012), and without any foreign intervention, stressing the need for all foreign fighters to exit from Syria.

The Ministerial Council condemned once again the continuing racial discrimination, ethnic cleansing and human rights violations against the Rohingya Muslim citizens in Myanmar.
Source: WAM