President Ben Ali: “We hope this Summit offers a new opportunity to close our ranks”.

Tunis , March 29, 2008- (TunisiaOnline) -- In his address to the 20th session of the Summit Conference of the Arab League Council in Damascus, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali expressed the hope that “the Summit will be marked by a sense of entente and consensus and that it offers an opportunity to close our ranks and to promote cooperation, complementarity and solidarity among our people “.

Evoking the situation in the Middle East, President Ben Ali expressed his concern at “Israel’s aggressions against the Palestinian people” which he said “requires us all to confirm our unwavering support to the Palestinian people”. He also called “all the concerned parties to join efforts in order to materialize the choice of peace and to resume negotiations on the basis of international references, the Arab Peace Initiative and the results of the Annapolis Conference”.

President Ben Ali further expressed Tunisia’s “solidarity with Syria and Lebanon so that they fully recover their occupied territories and live and peace and security”. He also reaffirmed Tunisia’s solidarity with the brotherly Iraqi people hoping it will manage, “in the nearest future to recover its security, assert its sovereignty , and devote its efforts to the reconstruction of its country, while preserving its territorial and national unity.”

The latest developments in Sudan were also evoked by President Ben Ali who voiced the hope that “these developments constitute a positive step on the road to achieving comprehensive national reconciliation.”

Noting with satisfaction “the encouraging achievements accomplished in promoting joint Arab action and enhancing the process of development and modernization in our countries“, President Ben Ali reiterated the importance he attaches to “implementing the objectives we have committed ourselves to achieve in the decisions issued during the Tunis, Algiers,  Khartoum, and Riyadh Summits.”

“In this context, we have been keen on establishing a pilot Arab Plan for human rights education for the period 2009-2014” in order to disseminate and anchor the culture of human rights, “in a way consistent with our heritage and noble universal values”, said President Ben Ali .

In a reference to “the scourge of terrorism”, he said that Tunisia was among the first countries to address this problem, essentially by “removing its root causes”. He also said that Tunisia has called for the holding of an international conference under the aegis of the United Nations to “formulate a strategy against terrorism and establish a code of ethics to which all parties shall be committed.”

While keen on promoting cooperation and dialogue “we also stress the need to highlight our distinctive cultural specificities “ and  set up an efficient plan to “redress erroneous views concerning our culture and civilization, and stand against the various falsehoods and misrepresentations targeting religions, symbols and sanctities ”, said President Ben Ali.

With a view to lifting the obstacles in the way of an effective Arab economic and social integration, President Ben Ali said that he “welcomed the Arab

Economic and Social Summit to be hosted by Kuwait early next year”, which will constitute “an important landmark for establishing a solidarity-based development partnership.”

President Ben Ali also renewed his call for the need “to master modern knowledge and sciences, to disseminate digital culture in our countries “, adding that he considered the Arab information and Communications Technologies Organization, launched at the end of last year as “a basic source of support to keep up with scientific development, and to reduce the digital divide separating us from advanced countries”.

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