Excerpts From Arab League’s Statement on Regional Issues

These are excerpts from the 21-page, 50-point final statement issued by the Arab League summit in Beirut, at which the leaders also approved a new peace initiative with Israel. In the final statement, Arab leaders decided, among other things, to:

* Affirm the right of the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese people to resist Israeli occupation and aggression. The leaders say it is necessary to clearly differentiate between terrorism, which they condemn, and the legitimate right of people to resist foreign occupation.

* Donate $55 million monthly over the next six months to support Palestinians, renewable if violence continues, plus $150 million to be donated to two funds set up in October 2000 to support Palestinians.

* Confirm that they will continue to abstain from setting up new relations with Israel as long as the deterioration continues. They call on the United States to work on resuming peace negotiations.

* Renew their total condemnation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, rejection of all kinds of terrorism, readiness to contribute to every U.N. effort in the war on terrorism.

* Reject exploitation of the war on terrorism to threaten force against any Arab country and singling out Iraq, saying they are keen to protect its unity and consider such threats an aggression and infringement to the region’s security and stability.

* Welcome Iraq’s confirmation that it would respect Kuwait’s “independence, sovereignty and security” and guarantee the unity of its land to avoid any repeat of the 1990 invasion.

* Reaffirm past calls for lifting U.N. sanctions imposed on Iraq and for Iraq to respect U.N. resolutions.