Arab ministers praise Kuwait's emir for hosting donors conference

Arab foreign ministers and officials, at an extraordinary meeting held on Sunday, lauded the State of Kuwait, namely His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, for planned hosting of the second international conference for donors for Syria early next year. The upcoming convention will help in alleviating hardships and humanitarian tragedy suffered by the Syrian people, said the ministers in a statement at conclusion of the conference. They called for rallying up international, regional and Arab support to ensure success of the conference to tackle the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Syria. Moreover, they urged the opposition groups and movements, namely The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, to cooperate with the concerned states to hold the Geneva-II convention for reconciliation in the country, noting that the opposition groups must form a delegation to represent them at the convention. The statement affirmed the Arab supportive stance for the coalition, namely its demand for international guarantees to ensure a peaceful settlement and pave way for establishing interim governing. As to detailed moves that should be taken on the path of reconciliation, the ministers stressed on necessity of establishing a transitional governing council with full executive prerogatives, as prelude to a multi-party democratic system based on equality of rights, law sovereignty, non-discrimination among citizens on bases of sectarian, racial or religious affiliation. The interim period must end with enacting a new constitution, to be endorsed in public referendum, and holding parliamentary and legislative elections, they noted in the final communique. The conferees noted necessity of taking certain measures, ahead of the Geneva-II conference, such as securing aid to all Syrian regions and enforcing a cease-fire. Furthermore, they affirmed support for the mission of Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy, namely his bids to pave the way for the second round of talks in Geneva