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Mideast conflict needs a just solution: Mohammed

DUBAI - Peace in the region cannot be won by war but through dialogue, understanding, mutual respect and reciprocal recognition, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said on Sunday.

In a meeting with Hans Gert Pottering, Speaker of the Parliament of the European Union (EU), Shaikh Mohammed said that world powers including Europe needed to adopt new policies and put in more efforts to find just and balanced solutions for issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, official news agency Wam reported.

“Peace in the Middle East, the Gulf, and other hot zones will not be achieved by armed conflict and violence. Great powers including those in Europe should adopt new policies that are based on dialogue, reciprocal recognition, understanding, respect as well as direct talks among all the parties,” he said.

Shaikh Mohammed said decades of the Arab-Israeli conflict has not brought about peace and security, nor social, psychological and economic stability, to people of the region, in particular to the Israelis and Palestinians. This, he added, was “the outcome of the lack of trust and the impotence of international mediators.”

He said efforts are needed to achieve balanced solutions that would do justice to all parties to the issue, in particular, the Palestinian people who are still looking for a homeland and identity so that they, and therefore, all people of the region would eventually enjoy the much-needed peace and security.

Shaikh Mohammed called on the EU countries and the European Parliament to make more efforts to find solutions to the issues and conflicts in the region in a fair and unbiased way so that they gain the trust and respect of people of the region who are longing for peace, stability and human and cultural co-existence.

Pottering hailed the UAE’s prudent leadership and its vision for the region’s future through economic development, and religious and cultural openness and tolerance.

He also hailed the UAE’s leadership for its wise approach to the ongoing financial crisis adding that the UAE’s economy was solid and has played a positive role in facing the global financial recession.