HIGHLIGHTS: Emir's Proposals Acquire Special Significance in View of HH's Capacity as Current Chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference||Emir Urges Washington to Effectively Play its Role in Resolving the Mideast Conflict in its Capacity as World's only Super Power and Co-sponsor of the Peace Process||Emir Links Peace in the Middle East to Israel's Withdrawal from Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Lebanese Shibaa Farms|| STORY: QATAR Saturday called for a permanent forum to be set up to foster understanding and overcome differences between the Islamic World and the US.

Addressing a conference on US Relations with the Islamic World which opened in Doha Saturday night, HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said: "There is no alternative but to sit together and jointly arrive at solutions for our problems.

Through such solutions, we can start planning for a joint future where we co-operate for the benefit of our peoples and societies to realize a better world."

HH the Emir's call for a permanent dialogue assumes particular importance, in view of his role as current chairman of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which represents more than 1bn Muslims throughout the Islamic world.

The novel proposal was preceded by a reminder of the "difficult and critical circumstances prevalent in the Gulf Region and the Middle East. Our world is at a crossroads," HH the Emir said in his keynote speech.

He also took the opportunity to raise the issue of America's role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, urging Washington "as a superpower, to perform its international, political and moral responsibilities and obligations towards the Palestinian question ... in accordance with the resolutions of international legality, and to exert the necessary efforts and pressures on Israel to end its occupation of the Arab territories in the West Bank."

He then listed the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Lebanese Shabaa Farms, saying that once they were liberated it "could be possible to achieve a comprehensive, fair and durable political settlement based on the relevant UN resolutions".

PHOTO CAPTION

HH the Emir delivers the keynote speech at the conference, flanked by HE the Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani, and former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk.
Picture: J Hamid