Security Council Distr.: General 30 April 2008
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United Nations S/2008/296 Security Council Distr.: General 30 April 2008 Original: English Letter dated 23 April 2008 from the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council I have the honour to forward a letter dated 15 April 2008, addressed to you from Mr. Amre Moussa, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, with the following enclosures (see annex): (a) Resolutions issued at the twentieth session of the Council of the League of Arab States, held at the summit level in Damascus, on 29 and 30 March 2008; (b) Damascus Declaration, issued at the twentieth session of the Council of the League of Arab States; (c) Address of His Excellency Bashar al-Assad, President of the Syrian Arab Republic, to the opening session; (d) Address of His Excellency Amre Moussa, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, to the opening of the session; (e) List of names of heads of delegations of Arab States participating in the twentieth session of the Council of the League of Arab States; (f) Report on the follow-up to the process of development and modernization in the Arab States; (g) Report of the Secretary General of the League of Arab States on joint Arab action. Pursuant to Article 54 of the Charter of the United Nations, I should be grateful if you would arrange for the present letter and its annex to be circulated as a document of the Security Council. (Signed) Yahya Mahmassani Ambassador 08-33501 (E) 041108 *0833501* S/2008/296 Annex to the letter dated 23 April 2008 from the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council [Original: Arabic] I have the honour to transmit to you herewith a paper copy and a digital copy of the following: – The resolutions adopted by the Council of the League of Arab States at its twentieth session at the summit level, held in Damascus on 29 and 30 March 2008, including the Damascus Declaration; – The report which I presented at the summit in Damascus on joint Arab action, to which is attached a booklet on “Follow-up to the process of development and modernization in the Arab States”. As you will note, these documents contain a number of significant resolutions and positions regarding some of the most prominent developments and political events on an Arab and regional level, particularly relating to the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict; the Arab peace initiative; and the evolving situations in Iraq, Lebanon, the Sudan and Somalia; as well as a number of other resolutions relating to political, economic and social matters. I should be grateful if you would have them distributed as a United Nations document. I take this opportunity to reaffirm to you my desire for continued cooperation between the League of Arab States and the United Nations, and my appreciation for your sincere efforts to achieve international peace and security. (Signed) Amre Moussa Secretary General of the League of Arab States 2 08-33501 S/2008/296 [Original: Arabic] League of Arab States LAS Secretariat General LAS Council Division LAS Council Affairs Directorate The Council of the League of Arab States at Summit Level 20th Ordinary Session Damascus, the Syrian Arab Republic 29-30 March 2008 • Resolutions • The Damascus Declaration • Address of His Excellency Bashar al-Asad, President of the Syrian Arab Republic, to the opening session • Address of Mr Amre Moussa, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, to the opening session • List of names of heads of delegations of Arab States participating in the 20th ordinary session of the Council of the League of Arab States at summit level 08-33501 3 S/2008/296 Contents Subject Resolution Page Resolutions.................................................................. 7-105 Political issues ............................................................... 7-63 1. Reports to the Summit .................................................... 7 • Report of the Presidency on the activity of the Follow-up Committee for the Implementation of Resolutions and Commitments ................ 405 7 • Report of the Secretary General on Joint Arab Action ................ 406 8 2. Arab National Security ............................................. 407 8 3. Inter-Arab Relations ............................................... 408 8 4. The Palestinian issue and developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict ............... 9-16 • The Arab Peace Initiative........................................ 409 9 • Developments in the Palestinian issue ............................. 410 10 • Support for the budget of the Palestinian National Authority and steadfastness of the Palestinian people ............................. 411 13 • The occupied Syrian Arab Golan ................................. 412 13 • Solidarity with and support for Lebanon ........................... 413 16 5. The Arab initiative to resolve the Lebanese crisis ....................... 414 18 6. Developments in the situation in Iraq ................................. 415 19 7. The situation of Iraqi émigrés in host Arab States ....................... 416 22 8. The transfer of Palestinian refugees from the Iraqi borders to the Sudan..... 417 23 9. The Iranian occupation of the Arabian Gulf islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, belonging to the United Arab Emirates .............. 418 24 10. Addressing the losses and measures resulting from the dispute over the Lockerbie affair................................................... 419 26 11. Rejection of the unilateral United States’ sanctions on the Syrian Arab Republic 420 27 12. Support for peace, development and unity in the Republic of the Sudan ..... 421 28 13. Support for the Republic of Somalia .................................. 422 31 14. Support for the Union of Comoros ................................... 423 32 15. The formulation of a united Arab position on practical measures to be taken to make the Middle East a region free from nuclear weapons ............. 424 34 16. The development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy in the Member States of the League of Arab States........................................... 425 35 17. Formulation of a common Arab programme for the peaceful use of nuclear energy .......................................................... 426 36 4 08-33501 S/2008/296 18. Ways of combating international terrorism............................. 427 36 19. Arab relations with international and regional blocs ............................ 38-42 • Afro-Arab cooperation.......................................... 428 38 • Arab-European cooperation...................................... 429 40 • Arab cooperation with the People’s Republic of China................ 430 41 • Arab cooperation with the States of South America .................. 431 42 20. The formulation of a model Arab plan for teaching the principles of human rights in 2009-2014................................................ 432 43 21. Support for and promotion of Arab civil society organizations in the service of Arab issues at international level .................................. 433 55 22. The Arab Contract for Youth (2008-2017) ............................. 434 56 23. Project for the promotion of the Arabic language for the knowledge society . 435 63 Economic and social issues .................................................... 64-102 24. Monitoring implementation of Arab summit resolutions in the economic and social spheres .................................................... 436 64 25. Preparations for the Arab Economic, Social and Development Summit...... 437 64 26. Support for the Secretariat-General budget to prepare for the Arab Economic, Social and Development Summit ........................... 438 67 27. Creation of an Arab earth-monitoring satellite system.................... 439 67 28. The general framework for an Arab tourism strategy..................... 440 83 29. The General Arab Strategy for Information and Communication Technology: Building the Information Society to 2012.............................. 441 84 30. Support for the Palestinian economy.................................. 442 100 31. The plan for the development of education in the Arab world ............. 443 101 32. The Arab project to improve the quality of health institutions ............. 444 102 33. Support for educational institutions in the Republic of Somalia............ 445 102 Financial and administrative issues ..............................................103-105 34. The financial position of the Secretariat-General of the League of Arab States ........................................................... 446 103 35. The budget of the Secretariat-General of the League of Arab States ........ 447 104 36. Expression of gratitude and appreciation to the Syrian Arab Republic for hosting the 20th ordinary session at summit level in Damascus ............ 448 104 37. Venue and date of the 21st ordinary session of the Council of the League of Arab States at summit level ......................................... 449 105 08-33501 5 S/2008/296 The Damascus Declaration ..................................................... 106 Address of His Excellency Bashar al-Asad, President of the Syrian Arab Republic, to the opening session .............................................................. 110 Address of Mr Amre Moussa, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, to the opening session .............................................................. 115 List