A senior Bahraini official said that the Bahrain Declaration, which will be issued Thursday at the conclusion of the 33rd Arab Summit, will express a unified Arab position toward many Arab files, mainly the Palestinian issue.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Ambassador Ahmed Al-Tarifi, Head of Arab and African Affairs at the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Manama will announce, on the sidelines of the summit, a set of initiatives that will constitute a new beginning for joint Arab action.
He noted that the Bahraini Foreign Minister, Dr. Abdul Latif Al-Zayani, undertook a tour to Arab capitals, to coordinate with his counterparts on the Bahrain Declaration, saying the summit will express “the unified Arab position” towards the current developments in the Arab world.
“In addition, a number of initiatives will be launched by the Kingdom of Bahrain, which will constitute a new beginning in joint Arab action,” he remarked.
The Bahraini official pointed to challenges facing the Arab world, foremost of which is the Palestinian file and the worsening humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the rest of the Palestinian territories. He also spoke about other problems, including the situation in Sudan and Libya, and food security in the Arab world, stressing that all these issues will be discussed by the Arab leaders on Thursday.
Asked about Bahrain’s initiative to host an international conference on the Palestinian cause and the two-state solution, the Director of Arab and African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Manama is “determined to host an international peace conference that addresses the Palestinian issue and the two-state solution, within the framework of ongoing Arab and international effort in this regard.”
He added: “We saw one of the outcomes of this endeavor, last week in the United Nations General Assembly when Palestine received the votes of 143 countries. This is an Arab diplomatic success that reflects the results of joint Arab influence.”
