Dead Sea, Jordan: Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi issued a veiled attack on Iran on Friday warning over foreign interference in the Arab world.
“No foreign nation should exploit the state of flux in the Arab world,” he said at the World Economic Forum being held at the Dead Sea Jordan.
Al Sissi’s comments came after King Abdullah of Jordan opened the conference as its host with a ringing endorsement of the importance of continuing to investing in the region’s human potential and creating the environment for inclusive prosperity despite the chaos of violence and destablisation.
Al Sissi rejected outside interference in the region at a time that the Arab world is going through profound changes and grave challenges.
“Terrorists are seeking to destroy state institutions using religious, sectarian and ethnic affiliations,” he said.
Encouraging individual freedoms and eradicating poverty was crucial to eliminating extremism, he explained.
The key to this is investing in the young people of the Arab world who will define what they want. They will need skills to work, and employment so that they can put their skills to use, said the Egyptian president.
Working with our young people is vital, he said, adding that there is a demographic window until 2050 to get the right plans in place.
He ended with a graceful acknowledgement of the importance of the investments from the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in helping Jordan get back to its 3 percent growth with the expectation of improving that in 2015.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejection of any thought of a provisional peace solution in Palestine as Israel continues to occupy and build colonies that divide the Palestinian people.
Abbas was dubious of the intentions of the new Israeli cabinet and insisted that it would be required to work under the accepted international treaties and practices that its predecessors had accepted.
“This will include final status talks based on a return to the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital, and the release of all prisoners,” said Abbas.
“We cannot accept Israel’s continued expansion of its settlements and continued use of Palestinian land. This programme of steady Israeli expansion mans that we cannot accept any provisional solution and we have to insist on a full and final solution.”
