Jordan: May 17, 2009 – IR Summary/ Jerusalem Post: Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said during the World Economic Forum on Sunday at an International Summit that Israel poses main Nuclear threat to the Middle East countries and others and not Iran where President Shimon Peres was also present.
At an international summit attended by President Shimon Peres on Sunday, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa echoed remarks made by chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, saying that Israel, not Iran, posed a nuclear threat to the Middle East.
Moussa went on to stress that a West Bank settlement freeze should be a precondition for negotiations with Israel.
The Arab League head called on Arab leaders who plan to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to demand that Israel freeze building in settlements and stop demolishing Arab homes.
“A freeze on settlements must be a precondition for negotiations,” he said.
On the sidelines of the summit on Saturday, Erekat said that Israel, and not Iran, posed a threat to peace and stability in the Middle East.
“There is a line in Israel saying that Iran is a danger to the region. This is absurd and unacceptable,” said Erekat, according to Iran’s FARS news agency.
The senior Palestinian official reportedly railed against “the Israeli occupation,” calling it “the real threat,” and “the gate to instability and destruction in the region.”
Erekat emphasized that Israel was deliberately trying to portray Iran as a threat in a order to divert international attention from its refusal to accept the establishment of a Palestinian state.
He went on to call for an end to the Israeli occupation, and said the Palestinians must assume their responsibilities by “helping themselves rather than turning to others for help.”
Later on Sunday, Peres is scheduled to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah. Full
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