June 02, 2010
FM praises ASEAN's response
SINGAPORE: Kuwait's Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah on Monday praised the response of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the Israeli attack earlier in the day on the Freedom Flotilla that was heading to Gaza.
Al-Sabah said that the second GCC-ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting had featured discussion of several issues, including the response to the Israeli attack. The attack on a civilian ship carrying humanitarian aid in international waters is a crime against humanity and a violation of international law, as well as being an act of piracy, he stressed.
During the meetings, things were called by their real names, he said, noting that the flotilla passengers who are still being held incommunicado by Israeli authorities were called "hostages" by both the ASEAN and GCC states.
Participants in the meeting demanded an immediate end to the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza and the implementation of Resolution 1860 on the siege, he said. They said that Israel was fully responsible for the attack on the flotilla and demanded an investigation, the minister added.
The delegates agreed on issuing a joint ASEAN-GCC press release that expressed their nations' anger and called on the international community and the United Nations to take responsibility and condemn the Israeli crime, as well as demanding the immediate release of the hostages, he noted.
Al-Sabah said that the meeting was successful on all levels, adding that meetings between the two sides will henceforth be held annually instead of every two years, with the next meeting to be held in Abu Dhabi.
Responding to a question, the Kuwaiti Deputy Premier said that signing a free trade agreement requires time, adding that the two sides had agreed on cooperation in the fields of economy, investment, education, training, culture, and arts. He further revealed that a proposal had been tabled to establish a body to manage cultural cooperation between ASEAN and GCC states.
- KUNA
