Dr Amr Moussa
League of Arab States secretary-general
New Delhi
1 December 2008
Targeting of Jews and other innocent civilians in the Mumbai terror attacks has
nothing to do with the Israel-Palestine conflict but at the same time the world can become
a safer place if the new US Administration to be headed by President-elect Barack
Obama plays an honest broker's role in West Asia, according to League of Arab States
Secretary-General Dr Amr Moussa.
"The existence of and procrastination in solving the Palestine question[,] the persistence
of Arab-Israeli conflict and the continuation of tension would harm the interests of India
[and the world alike]," Dr Moussa said in an interview to this newspaper here.
"Therefore we (Arab world and India) have vested interests in putting an end to the
situation (obtaining today in West Asia)," he said, welcoming India's principled position
on the Palestinian cause.
He described the Mumbai terror attacks as a "criminal act" and "heinous crime", adding
the Arab world was as much a victim of terrorism as any other.
Advocating acceleration of the pace of the West Asia peace process, Dr Moussa said the
Arab world would respond with "a chain of positive steps" if there is a unanimous
international will to tell Israel that "enough is enough".
He suggested Israel to stop building new settlements in the occupied territories and
remove the ones already built, and to also stop changing the demographic composition
and geographic character of the occupied territories.
Otherwise the existence of Israeli settlements would make it impossible to establish a
viable Palestine state, he asserted.
On the Fatah-Hamas split, Dr Moussa said the situation obtaining in Palestine today "is
a result of this mess that's been created by settlement policy, by building a wall, by
continuing excavations [and] by changing the nature of occupied territories".
Dr Moussa said Iran is one of the important countries in West Asia and the Arab-Iran
differences could be settled through dialogue. "We're not enemies," he was quick to add.
In a statement released after the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had said
that "the hatred of Jews, the State of Israel and Jewish symbols are still a factor that
spurs and encourages such murderous acts."
Dr Moussa is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Minister
of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee in his three-day visit of India.
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