Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Arab League Washes Hands Off Kashmir Issue

Srinagar, May 16, KONS: Ruling out his organisation’s intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue, the Arab League ambassador to India on Monday urged New Delhi and Islamabad for an urgent bilateral settlement of the 63-year-old question, on which, he said, the league had adopted “no position.”

In Srinagar for a conference organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Peace Foundation, ambassador Ahmad Salem Al Wahishi voiced opposition to third-party mediation on the state which, according to him, had passed through a “violent situation of confusion and hatred for the past 20 years,” and said that “people directly linked” to the conflict should be empowered to resolve it.

"The League of Arab states has no position on the specific question of Jammu and Kashmir...We look forward for peaceful coexistence, tolerance and dialogue among different civilisations," the ambassador was quoted by the PTI as having told reporters on the sidelines of the conference. Wahishi refused to elaborate on the statement, the news agency said.

The Arab League envoy’s assertion comes barely three days after a European Union delegation led by the EU’s ambassador to India, Danielle Smajda, said that the Kashmir issue had to be resolved by the people living in the region themselves. Wahishi said that the Arab League wanted peace in West Asia and the entire continent.

"We want peace to last in West Asia, in South Asia and in whole of the continent," he said. Earlier, speaking at the "Peace Conference," Wahishi called for an end to the Israeli occupation of Arab territories and supported the call for Palestinian freedom.

"We also take this opportunity to express our thanks to the Indian government for their principled position in efforts for a just and peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict based on international legitimacy and the Arab peace initiative for Palestinian independence and two-state solution," Wahishi said.

In his speech, the ambassador said that Kashmir was the "most preferred tourist place in the world."

"It is a real paradise," he said. “The state of Jammu and Kashmir has passed through the violent situation of confusion and hatred for the last 20 years. We follow these sad events."
(Courtesy : www.kashmirobserver.net)

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