Arab leaders slammed the US decision to
\nrecognise the Golan Heights as Israeli territory at a summit in Tunis on
\nSunday, but struggled for further unity as Qatar\u2019s emir left the meeting
\nearly.<\/p>\n
In a final declaration the Arab League summit said it \u201caffirmed that the
\nGolan is occupied Syrian territory according to international law, the
\ndecisions of the United Nations and the Security Council\u201d.<\/p>\n
A separate statement dedicated solely to the issue called Washington\u2019s move
\n\u201cinvalid and illegitimate\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is true that America is the strongest military force in the world, but
\nits decision is absolutely worthless,\u201d League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul
\nGheit told a closing news conference.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Monday in which the United
\nStates recognised Israel\u2019s annexation of the strategic plateau that it seized
\nin 1967 and annexed in 1981.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s move has not been recognised internationally, and three UN
\nSecurity Council resolutions have called for it to withdraw from the
\nterritory.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s shift on Golan had already drawn a string of angry reactions from
\nArab capitals, despite proving problematic for key regional US allies such as
\nSaudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
The decision has also drawn criticism from other Security Council members
\nand been rejected by the European Union.<\/p>\n
The united front shown at the Tunis summit on the issue failed to mask
\nother deep divisions inside the Arab League, as it struggles with major
\nheadaches such as a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf and conflicts in Syria and
\nYemen.<\/p>\n
In an apparent sign of the tensions, Qatar\u2019s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-
\nThani quit the gathering \u201cafter attending the opening ceremony\u201d, the Gulf
\nstate\u2019s official QNA news agency reported, without giving any further
\ndetails.<\/p>\n
A Tunisian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Qatari
\nleader had walked out during the speech of League chief Aboul Gheit, and \u201chas
\nleft Tunisia\u201d.<\/p>\n
Qatar is at the centre of a bitter Gulf standoff since June 2017, when
\nSaudi Arabia along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain severed
\nties with Doha.<\/p>\n
The Saudi-led bloc accuses Doha of supporting extremist groups and being
\ntoo close to Iran, charges Qatar denies.<\/p>\n
The meeting in Tunis had brought together Saudi King Salman and the emir
\nfor a rare encounter.<\/p>\n
But an appeal by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi for the region to
\n\u201covercome its differences\u201d appeared to have little impact as the Qatari ruler
\nleft prematurely.<\/p>\n
In his opening speech Aboul Gheit had blasted Turkey and Iran for their
\n\u201cinterference\u201d in Arab countries, insisting that Tehran and Ankara had
\nworsened regional crises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arab leaders slammed the US decision to recognise the Golan Heights as Israeli territory at a summit in Tunis on Sunday, but struggled for further unity as Qatar\u2019s emir left the meeting early. In a final declaration the Arab League summit said it \u201caffirmed that the Golan is occupied Syrian territory according to international law, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5087,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086\/revisions\/5087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}