Al-Araby leaves for Doha to attend Arab Peace Initiative Committee's meeting

The Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby departed Cairo on Monday heading to Doha, where he will attend the Arab Middle East Peace Initiative Committee''s final session, due a day later. Ahead of his departure, Al-Araby had announced that the session would be held in the attendance of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in addition to foreign ministers from some 15 nations. The session will be the last for the committee, during which the final touches will be added to the initiative ahead of an application for Palestine''s complete membership of the UN and its global recognition as a sovereign state. There are over 120 countries that recognize Palestine, he said, noting that the right to recognize it stems from nations as a sovereign right. On Libya, he said the Arab League would be forming a committee, headed by Arab League Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Ahmad Bin Helli, to assess the situation and present all required assistance to the Libyan Interim National Council - despite the Arab League having yet to recognize it. On the Arab Spring revolutions, he said: "There needs to be a reconsideration of all issues and how to deal with them. These revolutions that have arose call for human rights and this is the right of the people. Arab countries have signed the UN Human Rights Declaration, and this should be executed." Participates in meetings of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee include Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria, Palestine, UAE, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Oman and Sudan.