Terming the resolution of the Arab-Israel conflict as key to a just and durable peace in the Middle East, Ambassador Haroon warned that the increased illegal settlement activity, settler attacks, Gaza blockade and vandalization of holy sites, were on tenterhooks, and a small ignition could turn it into a fire that could threaten regional stability.
The Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon said this while speaking in a debate at the Security Council on ” Situation in the Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities” on Monday. The Ambassador called for urgent action by the Security Council in order to avoid escalation of tensions in the region. The recent spate of reform in the Middle East, he reiterated, should not pass the Palestinians by.
Speaking about the Arab Spring, Ambassador Haroon said that Pakistan fully supported the fulfillment of legitimate aspirations of peoples. The process, he added, had to be within the confines of international law and provisions of the Charter of the United Nations. The Ambassador further said that concepts like interference in internal affairs of sovereign States and regime change were against the ethos of international good neighbourliness. The concept of spring, by its nature, was peaceful and gradual, and it should neither be forced nor abrupt, he added.
“Pakistan fully supports a locally driven reform process, and condemns violence and violations of human rights wherever they are committed, and irrespective of who the perpetrators are”. Ambassador Haroon refuted the trite canard that Islam and democracy are incompatible. He cited the Islamic concepts of brotherhood, equality and seeking knowledge, and emphasized that Muslim societies already were blessed and, therefore, did not need outside mentoring. Ambassador Haroon also asked for peaceful resolution of Iranian nuclear issue.
The debate on the situation in the Middle East was convened by the UK, in its capacity as the President of the Council for the month of March, and was also attended by the Secretary General of the United Nations, as well as the Foreign Ministers of the UK, USA, Russia, France, Portugal, Germany and Guatemala.
