WASHINGTON, US – The US-Arab Strategic Dialogue discussed Middle East peace and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, among other issues here.
The dialogue concluded successfully on Wednesday and the US and Arab League issued a joint statement on several issues. They statement said that they will counter terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms.
The two sides discussed reducing tensions in regional conflicts, climate change and health security, information and communications technology infrastructure, universal values.
The joint statement said, “We discussed nonproliferation and arms control, multilateral issues, the importance of secure information and communications technology infrastructure, as well as building resilience to climate change and improving public health intervention and health security in the Middle East.”
It said that a common ground has been found on the importance of community engagement, building resilience to recruitment to violence, and supporting the role of education in countering radicalization to violence and terrorism.
It added that the US and Arab League are together in the fight against IS/Daesh, al-Qaeda, and allother terrorist groups
The statement said, “We strongly condemn any threats, armed seizures, and attacks against commercial ships that interfere with navigational rights and freedoms in the strategic waterways of the region.”
It said, “We resolve to increase our commitment to pursue collective efforts to address threats to the security of vessels traveling through the region’s waterways that are critical to international trade and the global economy.”
It added, “We intend to work to ensure that COP28 in Dubai, for the benefit of the process, includes a diverse range of women’s voices.”
The statement said that the US and the Arab world share enduring economic, social, cultural, and people-to-people ties.
The statement added that investing in the people will reap dividends for the future generations of all Arab League member states and the United States.
In a separate statement, the US strongly condemned the attack on the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad early Thursday. The US said that freedom of peaceful assembly is an essential hallmark of democracy, but what occurred was an unlawful act of violence.
The US said, “It is unacceptable that Iraqi Security Forces did not act to prevent protestors from breaching the Swedish Embassy compound for a second time and damaging it.”
The US has offered is support to the Swedish government.
The statement said, “Foreign missions should not be targets of violence,” and urged the Iraqi government to protect all diplomatic missions as per international law.