Egypt's permanent delegate to the Arab League Tarek Adel said the central issue of the 26th Arab summit, held under the chairmanship of Egypt on Saturday, will be the preservation of collective Arab national security.
At the preparatory meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday, in which Egypt received the chairmanship from Kuwait, Adel said the Palestinian issue tops the summit’s agenda. “We will also discuss freeing the region of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction,” he added. “And we will continue efforts for suitable political solutions for Libya, Syria and Yemen.”
For his part, the Kuwaiti representative, Aziz Al-Daihani talked about his country's efforts during its presidency of the 25th session, stressing that Kuwait was keen to strengthen Arab solidarity in the face of regional threats, and to support the Palestinian cause.
Deputy Secretary-General Ahmed Ben Helli praised the Egyptian arrangements to hold the session in Sharm el-Sheikh, where the economic conference was held. He said the conference embodied Arab solidarity and brought Egypt back to a position of regional and international leadership.
He noted that there is no disagreement on the key agenda issues, most notably the Palestinian cause, collective measures to maintain Arab national security and counter terrorism, unifying Arab positions regarding Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia, and developing the Arab League system.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
