HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmed Abdullah Al Mahmoud headed the Qatari Delegation to the Asian African Conference 2015, which was open by the Indonesian President Joko Widodo here today.

In his speech during the opening session of the Conference, HE Al Mahmoud pointed out that six decades since the Bandung conference, the challenges facing the world are growing and they can only be faced by collective work, cooperation, coordination and joint action with the international community.

The conference focuses on showing moral support for the Palestinian people, which suffer from the Israeli occupation, noting that previous experiences showed that the countries of the South are able to play an active role in addressing these challenges, he added.

Our group was able to play important and historical roles in defending the rights of peoples over the past decades, and occupied in this regard an important position at the international level, it also managed to gain support for the issues of Group countries, said HE Al Mahmoud adding "This invites us all to maintain this position, and this solidarity." HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs praised the group's position in support of the Palestinian cause over the past six decades and the struggle of the Palestinian people for their right to establish their independent state on their land based on the resolutions of international legitimacy and the principle of two-state solution. "There is no doubt that our conference renews its fair historical position supporting the Palestinian people's rights, condemning Israeli violations and recognizing the Palestinian state, which has been recognized by the (135) states," he added.

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmed bin Abdulla Al Mahmoud said that the Asian region which is neighboring Africa is experiencing serious local tensions that affect the stability and security of the entire region, pointing to the end of Operation Determination Storm in Yemen.

On the Syrian issue, HE Al Mahmoud said that the suffering of the Syrian people continues because of the continued flagrant violations which constitute a violation of all international conventions, as well as the inaction of the international community to fulfill his duties for put an end to this human tragedy, calling on the group to urgently seek a political solution to the crisis based on the implementation of the Geneva Declaration on June 30, 2012.

He said that realizing development and enhance the security and stability of our peoples is the goal we seek, adding that the nations are looking for the respect and promotion of human rights, achieving social justice, upholding the principle of the rule of law, fighting against corruption, drugs and crime prevention. The State of Qatar hosted last week the 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice which adopted the Doha Declaration that contains the foundations and principles for achieve that, he added.

He stressed that the growing problem of international terrorism requires more cooperation within the group as well as with other regional and international groups in order to address this scourge within the framework of international legitimacy.

HE Al Mahmoud said that the State of Qatar spared no effort in providing economic support to many of the countries of the South to support their development plans and assist in the promotion of stability and sustainable development through the establishment of relations based on mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs. Qatar has been an active partner to support the international community's efforts in finding solutions to common challenges facing humanity as well as in settlement of disputes between countries in both of the Asian and African continents, he said.

He added "Believing in the importance of cooperation between the countries of the South, and affirming our commitment to participatory responsibility, we support the documents to be adopted by the conference on strengthening South-South cooperation to promote peace and global prosperity, and the declaration of activating Asian- African Strategic Partnership and the declaration of Asian and African countries's support of to the State of Palestine."