International News

JAKARTA, Indonesia, (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain on Monday
said peace in Middle East would remain elusive without the resolution of the Palestine issue and called upon the international community to play its role in finding a just solution in light the UN resolutions to the long-standing problem.
“Two states [Palestine and Israel], living side by side in peace and
security is the goal that we ought to pursue,” the President said in his address at the fifth Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Palestine and Al-Quds (Jerusalem), held here in the Indonesian capital.
The OIC summit titled “United for just solution” hosted by Indonesia
at the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, gathered heads of state and representatives from 49 Muslim countries to find a solution to the Palestine issue and voice concern over the growing Israeli atrocities.
President Mamnoon, who made his speech in national language Urdu at the
international forum, spoke categorically about the “apartheid policies” of Israel.
He mentioned Israel’s use of excessive, disproportionate and
indiscriminate force against unarmed innocent Palestinians and building settlements in the West Bank, terming these as blatant violation of international law and UN resolutions.
“All Israeli measures including settlements, separation wall, excavation
beneath the Al-Aqsa mosque and evictions of Palestinians from their homes which could change the situation on ground till a resettlement is reached, must stop,” he said.
The President said that Pakistan was in support of direct negotiations
between the Israelis and the Palestinians, however stressed that the talks should be based on internationally-agreed parametres, with clear benchmarks and timelines.
“While Israel does not seem to abide by these principles, we fully
support the Palestinian bid to internationalize the issue to bring more international force on the issue,” he said.