Egypt’s President Mursi Calls Palestine “Top Priority”

Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi called the Palestinian issue a top priority agenda not just for his state, but for the entire Arab nations, and voiced his government’s strong support for the official membership of an independent Palestinian state at the United Nations.

“Palestine is the top priority of Arabs,” Mursi said during his remarks at the opening session of the Arab League’s 138th regular meeting of foreign ministers, which began early Wednesday at the AL headquarters in Egypt’s capital of Cairo.

He said despite the high pace of all challenges and developments in the region, the Palestinian issue has remained unresolved, adding that Israel is not serious about finding a solution to the issue.

“That’s why we are necessitated to support the Palestinian issue so that a fair and comprehensive solution is found to meet the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and form an independent Palestinian state,” Mursi continued.

He added that Egypt will make its utmost effort to support recognition of an independent Palestinian state at the UN.

In his address at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran last Thursday, Mursi had also underlined his government’s special attention to the issue of Palestine, and asked the United Nations to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

“The independent Palestinian government should be recognized at the UN,” Mursi said at the time.

Mursi reiterated that the Palestinian nation should be able to establish an independent government in the Palestinian territories.

He said that Palestine has been a central issue since the beginning of the establishment of the Non-Aligned movement, adding that Cairo will continue paying special attention to the issue in future.