Deputising for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, HRH Crown Prince Chairs 32nd Arab Summit

Deputising for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, chaired the 32nd Arab Summit today.

HRH the Crown Prince received the leaders and heads of delegations participating in the summit upon their arrival at the venue, SPA reported.

The 32nd Regular Session of the Arab League Council at the Summit Level commenced with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran.

Following that, the Prime Minister of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Aimene Benabderrahmane, delivered a speech expressing gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their generous hospitality and reception.

At the end of his speech, the Prime Minister of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria offered his sincere congratulations and great appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH the Crown Prince on the occasion of the Saudi's assumption of the presidency of the 32nd Arab Summit.

He added: "We are fully confident that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will lead the works of our council with competence, for what we have entrusted with the Kingdom and its wise leadership of constant keenness on the unity of the Arab and the activation and development of the mechanisms of joint Arab action."

Then, he announced the handover of the presidency of the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Arab League Council at the Summit Level to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Following the Prime Minister of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria's announcement, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, once the Kingdom assumed the presidency of the 32nd regular session, delivered the following speech:

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah,

Your Majesties, Excellencies and Highnesses,

Your Excellency, the Secretary General of the Arab League,

Honorable guests,

Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you,

We are pleased to welcome you to your second country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to welcome the guest of the Summit, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine. We hope that our efforts will be crowned with success.

We are also pleased to thank the President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, for his efforts during his country's presidency of the previous session, and we thank the Secretary General of the Arab League, and all Arab League's employees, for their efforts to serve joint Arab action.

Your Majesties, Excellencies and Highnesses,

We assure the neighboring countries and friends in the West and the East that we are moving forward for peace, goodness, cooperation, and construction in a way that achieves our peoples' interests and safeguards our nation's rights. We will not allow our region to turn into fields of conflict. It is enough for us to turn the page of the past by remembering the painful years of conflicts the region lived through, as they caused suffering for its people and faltered the development process.

We are pleased today with the presence of President Bashar Al-Assad at this summit and the issuance of the Arab League's decision regarding the resumption of the participation of the Syrian government's delegations in the meetings of the Arab League Council. We hope that this will support the stability of Syria, the return of things to normal, and the resumption of its usual role in the Arab nation, in a way that achieves good for its people and supports all of our aspirations toward a better future for our region.

Distinguished guests,

The Palestinian cause was and still is the central issue of Arabs and Muslims. It also comes at the top of the Kingdom's foreign policy priorities. The Kingdom did not hesitate or delay in supporting the brotherly Palestinian people to restore their lands and legitimate rights and establish an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the Palestinian lands, within the year 1967, with East Al-Quds as its capital, in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy, Arab Peace Initiative, and other agreed upon international references, in a way that achieves the aspirations of the brotherly Palestinian people.

Your brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are devoting their efforts to supporting Arab issues. We are also working to help the Yemeni parties to reach a comprehensive political solution that ends the Yemeni crisis. Concerning Sudan, we hope that the language of dialogue will be the basis for preserving the unity of Sudan, the security of its people and capabilities. In this regard, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomes the signing of the Jeddah Declaration by the two parties to the conflict, which calls to commit to protecting civilians and facilitating humanitarian action. We hope that the talks will result in an effective ceasefire. In cooperation with brothers, friends, and the international community, the Kingdom will continue to exert humanitarian efforts and activate relief platforms for the brotherly Sudanese people.

We are pleased to take the opportunity of President Zelenskyy's presence and his participation in this summit to reaffirm the Kingdom's position that supports all efforts that can contribute to mitigating the crisis in Ukraine, ensuring the non-deterioration of the humanitarian situation and expressing the Kingdom's readiness to continue mediation efforts between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in addition to supporting all international efforts aimed at resolving the crisis politically in a way that contributes to realizing peace and security.

Distinguished guests,

The civilizational, cultural, natural and human resources our Arab world possesses are sufficient to enable our countries and peoples to accomplish a comprehensive renaissance in all fields.

May peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Source: Bahrain News Agency