Amr Moussa: Jerusalem Is Cornerstone of Any Peace Agreement

The former Secretary General of the Arab League returned to Cairo from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, at the end of a business trip that included a visit to three countries.

Moussa's first stop was in the Moroccan city of Tangier to participate in the "Tangier Dialogue" Forum on Religions.

During his speech at the forum, Moussa mentioned that they should work together to achieve a multilateral system that guarantees the interests of all states, in order to consolidate global peace and stability.

He also touched on the peace agreements that were signed in the past years between the Arab states and Israel, saying that they must support peace and renounce wars, but peace must be comprehensive and do not concern one people without the other, and renouncing war must also include refusing to all forms of occupation, colonialism, oppression, and confiscation of peoples' resources, especially the Palestinian people.

Moussa added that he still believes, after many decades spent in the corridors of negotiations, that no one will be able to impose on the people any agreement or deal unless it is based on a just and comprehensive peace, and that the recent agreements will not reach their desired goals except in a way that guarantees rights of the Palestinian people to determine their destiny, their future, and their freedom.

Then the former General Secretary went to Geneva, Switzerland, to chair the meetings of the Board of Trustees of the International Organization Interpeace, which works in a number of countries and conflict areas in the world through joint development projects and economic empowerment.

Moussa concluded his trip by heading to Baku, to participate in the meetings of the "Nizami Chungavi Peace" Centre, which he is a member of its board of trustees.

[caption id="attachment_353621" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Amr Moussa[/caption]

The discussions there included the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, where Moussa emphasized the status of East Jerusalem, which was occupied in 1967 and the Israeli position on it cannot be accepted, and that it is the cornerstone of any peace agreement.

He added that successive peace initiatives have always come from the Arab side, or from international parties, and to this day he has not seen a single peace initiative from the Israelis, and it is not correct for them to talk about their desire for it while they have not initiated it yet.

Contributed by Israa Farhan