NEW YORK: Kuwaithas anew confirmed importance of strengthening regional security since theestablishment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 1981, through resolvingdifferences between countries of the region since its first years ofindependence. Kuwait's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador MansourAl-Otaibi made this statement while speaking during a UN Security Councilmeeting on challenges of peace and security in the Middle East.
Otaibi pointedout that Kuwait is seeking to strengthen its relations with Iran based ondialogue and mutual respect. He said that the dialogue is based on adoptingconfidence-building measures and avoiding unilateral measures, which wouldincrease the tension of the Gulf waters, disturbing the safety of waterways andundermining the security in the world.
The issues of theMiddle East are intertwined and complex, currently taking up a large part ofthe Security Council's agenda, ranging from 30-40 percent of the agenda, as theregion witnessed many wars and crises for more than seven decades, he said. Headded that this region, which is the ground of three monotheistic religions,human civilizations, cultures, some of the oldest cities worldwide, containstremendous natural resources and vast human resources, in which itunfortunately witnesses crises.
Region's woes
Otaibi said thatboth the UN and Security Council deal with the Palestinian issue, Syria, Yemen,Sudan and Libya, that are currently under occupation of parts of theirterritory. The region is confronting terrorism, witnessing six internalconflicts in six Arab countries out of 14 peacekeeping operations, in additionto the crisis of refugees and displaced people, he said. It has been reiteratedin more than one meeting that the solution to the Palestinian issue lies inrestoring the right of their owners to their land and their state, reaching acomprehensive, just and lasting settlement through the implementation of therelevant Security Council resolutions, ending the occupation and establishing aPalestinian statewith East Jerusalem as its capital, he said.
Israel's policiessince joining the UN are united by a common factor: non-compliance with itscharter, non-implementation of Security Council resolutions and internationallegitimacy, also nonstop violations in the absence of any accountability, hementioned. The UN Charter is his primary means of conflict prevention, he saidpointing out that there have been initiatives for years that Israel hasrejected, such as suggesting Middle East to be free of mass destructionweapons.
On thehumanitarian side, Otaibi underlined that his work must be human-centered andthe law is its source, to seek a decent life for the people peacefully. Addingthat Kuwait has joined with France and a group of countries in defendingcivilians and generating facilities such as hospitals and schools to preventtargeting them during wars. He brought up witnessing the occupation of Kuwait,which had numerous violations of international humanitarian law, so because ofthat, doubled thoughtfulness is ensured that everyone respects theinternational humanitarian law.
He pointed outthat the number of refugees and displaced people in the Arab countries rose to24 million. Political solutions to the region's problems remain a priority andending the occupation is the first of these solutions. He underscored thatinvestment in education is one of the most prominent areas of Kuwait's assistance.Crimes of terrorists such as the so-called Islamic State and others resulted tothe destruction of monuments and civilizations, as the impact of warsdevastated cities, erasing memories preserved by previous generations, he said.
Yemen's unity
Separately,Kuwait has stressed the importance of preserving unity and sovereignty ofYemen, expressing concern over the latest developments in the city of Aden andis looking forward to the efforts exerted by Saudi Arabia in hosting talks inJeddah between the Yemeni government and representatives of the SouthernTransitional Council. This came in Kuwait's speech at the Security Councilsession on Yemen which Otaibi delivered Tuesday night.
Otaibi expressedhope that the final outcome of the talks will lead to the return of securityand stability in a way that preserves Yemen's unity and sovereignty over itsterritory. "Eight months have passed since the Stockholm Agreement enteredinto force, during which it witnessed the continuation of the impasse and thelack of any tangible progress," he said. He stressed that the politicalsolution is based on the dialogue sponsored by the United Nations and throughresolutions 2451, 2452 and 2481 adopted unanimously by the Council as well asseveral press statements emphasizing the need for full implementation of thisagreement.
Otaibi pointedout that the Stockholm agreement did not witness any constructive measures thatlead to achieving the desired objectives, as the city of Taiz is still undersiege for the past four years and have not witnessed any concrete measurestowards achieving or even starting to implement the Taiz understandings, inaddition to the continuous stalemate to implement the agreement for theexchange of prisoners and detainees. He pointed out that the Hodeidah agreementis still struggling to reach the starting point and get out of the first phaseof implementation, which will be done only by respecting the understandings andagreements reached through the Redeployment Coordinating Committee on theconcept of operations.
Otaibi welcomedthe efforts of the Special Envoy in this regard by submitting proposals tobreak the stalemate associated with the elements of the Stockholm Agreement,stressing at the same time that these efforts should be based on understandingsto ensure the full exercise of the sovereignty of the Yemeni government on itsterritory. He reiterated Kuwait's firm position that there is no militarysolution to the crisis in Yemen, stressing the statement of the Special Envoy onthe need to reduce the pace of military escalation and reiterated that theutmost importance lies in the full and concrete implementation of all threeelements of the Stockholm Agreement. - KUNA