Manama: King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa on Thursday reiterated in front of the international community Bahrain's call for a solution to the United Arab Emirates occupied islands.
"Based on our commitment to the security of the Arabian Gulf region, we emphasize the need to resolve the issue of the three occupied United Arab Emirates' islands, through direct negotiations or by referral to the International Court of Justice," King Hamad said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly.
The Bahraini monarch stressed the issue of the occupied islands as he presented Bahrain's views on developments in the Arabian Gulf and the Middle East.
"Today, more than any time in the past, the international community is offered a propitious opportunity to do justice to the brotherly Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate aspirations by recognizing their independent Palestinian state on their own national territory, with East Jerusalem as its capital," he said.
"This would put an end to an era of bitter Arab-Israeli conflict, subject to a complete Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories to the lines of 4 June 1967 in Palestine, the occupied Syrian Arab Golan and the occupied territories in southern Lebanon, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative," he said.
King Hamad said that "with regard to developments in the brotherly Yemen, the Kingdom of Bahrain supports the Gulf initiative to maintain the security, stability and unity of Yemen and achieve the aspirations of its people."
"We also emphasize in this respect the importance of preserving the unity of Moroccan territory and resolving the issue of the Moroccan Sahara in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions," he said.
King Hamad said that Bahrain did not hesitate to contribute to and participate in the Group of Friends of Libya to achieve the aspirations of the Libyan people and to ensure the unity and territorial integrity of the country.
"Bahrain is also participating in the international peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan, in support of its stability and security in all political, economic, and security spheres, as well as in the fight against international terrorism and piracy on the high seas," he said.
The Bahraini king said that Arabs -Muslims, Christians, Jews and followers of other religions and beliefs- can only coexist in a "Civil State" that is based on tolerance.
"We speak here of the reality of the experience of our country, Bahrain, with its characteristic openness and its civilization deeply rooted in history which made it, from times immemorial, a symbol of coexistence and interaction between these human contributions," he said.
"Hence its position as a cultural and spiritual centre of its natural and human environment in the Arabian Gulf region since early times, a position upon which it built its civil society and its modern renaissance in the field of administrative organisation, economic action, and educational and cultural revival," he said.
