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Iran, Qatar Reach Common Stance on Afghan, Palestinian Issues
Iran and Qatar on Tuesday reached a common stance on the current crisis in Afghanistan and in the occupied Palestinian territories, and deplored the situation in the war-torn regions, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.
During a closed-door meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami expressed deep concern about situation in Afghanistan, where "innocent civilians have been exposed to military strikes," the IRNA said.
Khatami called on the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which Qatar currently chairs, to work with the United Nations to help end the current human tragedy in Afghanistan as well as to coordinate a multilateral campaign against terrorism.
The Muslim world is also concerned with the Zionist regime's abuse of the current climate in the region to intensify its violence and relentless massacre of the Palestinians, the Iranian president said.
Khatami praised Qatar for holding the emergency meeting of the OIC foreign ministers in Doha on October 10 to voice concern about Israel's violence against the Palestinians and the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, saying the meeting helped bring Islamic states closer, especially in condemnation of terrorism.
For his part, the Qatari emir noted that the Israeli regime under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is exploiting the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States to intensify its violence against the Palestinians.
He deplored the humanitarian tragedy in Afghanistan and stressed the need to form a government with wide popular support and participation of all ethnic groups in Afghanistan.
Iran and Qatar hold the same view on terrorism, the emir said, calling for cooperation of all regional states and the Muslim world to help find a fair solution to the Afghan crisis.
The Qatari emir arrived here on Tuesday morning for a one-day visit and left here in the afternoon soon after the meeting ended.
The press here noted that since Qatar currently heads the 57- member OIC, the main purpose of the emir's visit was to coordinate stance with Iran, a heavyweight OIC member, on ongoing regional crisis in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.
The OIC has condemned the September 11 terror attacks, but did not declare any official position toward the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan. Qatar on Sunday called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to put an end to "Israel's aggressions" against the Palestinians.
Since the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi last week by a radical Palestinian group, the Israeli army has re-occupied six Palestinian-controlled towns in the West Bank, killing at least 25 Palestinians.
Iran strongly condemned both terror attacks on the United States and the ongoing U.S. strikes against Afghanistan. Being antagonistic to Israel, the Islamic republic has backed the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation and suppression.
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