Qatar, Lebanon hail Iran intifada confab

The Lebanese and Qatari parliament speakers have both praised Iran’s initiative in staging the Fifth International Conference on the Palestinian Intifada in Tehran.
“Iran is the only country which plays an active part is supporting the Palestinian cause,” IRIB website quoted the Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri as saying on Friday.

Berri who is in Tehran to participate in the conference also said that the US, which he dubbed as “the custodian of Israel”, has already prepared itself to veto of the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN Security Council.

“This is a proven fact and calls for no guesswork,” he said.

Qatar’s Parliament Speaker Muhammad bin Mubarak al-Khalifi also hailed Iran’s initiative in staging the conference as “effective for the support of Palestine.

“All eyes across the globe are now pinned on Tehran,” al-Khalifi added.

The two-day summit, scheduled to open on October ۱, will be hosting 70 countries from around the world.

Secretary-General of the international conference Hossein Sheikholeslam has announced that 16 parliament speakers from Indonesia, Malawi, Zanzibar, Algeria, Lebanon, Qatar, Iraq, Comoros, Kuwait, Syria, Mauritania, Paraguay, and Afghanistan (three participants) as well as eight deputy speakers have indicated readiness to attend the summit.

The first intifada conference was held in October 1991 followed by the second and third conferences respectively in May 2001 and April 2006. The fourth conference was held after the war on the Gaza Strip was launched by Israel in March 2009.

The conference coincides with the Palestinian Authority’s bid to win support at the United Nations for the recognition of an independent Palestinian state on the lines of the 1967 borders, which would encompass the Gaza Strip and the West Bank including East al-Quds.