Reuters, TunisSunday, 31 March 2019
Arab leaders warned on Sunday any country from following in the US footsteps in recognizing Israel sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit, Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf attend the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis. (Reuters)
In a statement agreed by the 22 member states at the closing session of the Sunday’s summit of the Arab League in the Tunisian capital Tunis, the Arab leaders said they will seek a UN Security Council resolution against the US decision on the Golan Heights.
“We, the leaders of the Arab countries gathered in Tunisia ... express our rejection and condemnation of the United States decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan,” Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said.
He said Arab countries would present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council and seek a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice on the US decision. It warned other countries away from following Washington’s lead.
Trump signed a proclamation last week recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, which annexed the area in 1981 after capturing it from Syria in 1967.
Trump’s earlier decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital also drew Arab condemnation. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
The Arab leaders also invited non-Arab Iran to work with Arab countries on the basis of good neighborly ties and without interfering in each others’ internal affairs, according to Reuters.
