Cyprus to host meeting in support of Middle East Peace Process 

February 12, 2002

Cyprus will host between 16-18 April , 2002 an international meeting in support of the Middle East peace process. The Unanimous decision was taken on 12 February by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

The Committee was set up in 1975 to recommend to the UN General Assembly a plan for Palestinian self-determination and eventual statehood.

According to a provisional program, the meeting will deal with issues such as international efforts to contain the crisis and resume the peace dialogue and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Speaking after the decision, Cyprus' Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Sotos Zackheos, said that the Cyprus Government is honored to have been given the opportunity to host such a meeting. "This decision is an indication of the Cyprus Government commitment to contribute to the effort of the international community in the pursuit of peace and reconciliation in the Middle East region," he said.

Zackheos urged for a creation of a new Middle East characterized by justice, security for all and regional cooperation, underlining that the creation and the viability of a of a Palestinian state was a "sine qua non" for a long lasting peace in the Middle East.

"Human history was repeatedly shown that foreign occupation  cannot cannot constitute, in any way, a means for legitimizing a breach of international law and legality that holds the international system together", he said.

The ambassador said that the Cyprus Government would work closely with the Committee and the UN Secretariat in order to secure a successful and productive meeting hoping that it would contribute to the broader effort of the international community to end the violence and lead the parties to the negotiating table.     

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