Israel to blame for failure of Mideast peace efforts-Qatar

Qatar has laid the blame on Israel for the failure of peace efforts in the Middle East over the past four decades. It said its time for the international community to help the Palestinians realize their internationally-acknowledged rights, foremost self-determination, ending occupation of the Palestinian territories and recognizing a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 War borders, with Jerusalem as its capital and repatriation of Palestinian refugees as per relevant UN resolutions. Qatar restated its full support of Palestine membership at the UN. Qatar''s position was spelled out in a speech delivered by Mansour Abdullah al Slaitin, first secretary at the Qatari permanent UN mission in Geneva , at a session of UN Human Rights Council. The essential issue in the Middle East is the Palestinian cause, the continuation of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Golan heights and Shibaa farms in southern Lebanon and the suffocating blockade of the Gaza Strip, as underlined by HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Slaitin said. He called for support of the Palestinian appeal to the UN for a Palestinian state and urged Israel to fulfill its legal obligations towards the Palestinian people.