Meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs with Nabil EL ARABY, Secretary General of the League of Arab States in the EP in Brussels. Statements by Andrej PLENKOVIĆ (EPP, HR) and Nabil EL ARABY, Secretary General of the League of Arab States

Committee on Foreign Affairs

Brussels

exchange of views

EU - Syria (T)

EU - Libya (T)

EU - Iraq (T)

EU - Egypt (T)

PLENKOVIĆ, Andrej (EPP, HR)

EU - League of Arab States (T)

Exchange of views with Nabil EL ARABY, Secretary General of the League of Arab States: extracts from the meeting at the Committee on Foreign Affairs

SOUNDBITE (English), Andrej PLENKOVI&#262; (EPP, HR), "Closer cooperation between the EU and the League of Arab States could deliver important results, with particular regard to the crisis in Libya, Syria and the fight against the Islamic State."

SOUNDBITE (English), Nabil EL ARABY, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, "The decision of the future of Syria should be in the hand of the Syrians, the Syrians should need both, government and opposition, start a new phase, a transition phase, establish an authority or a government and they can decide from there what they want for the future. Regrettable at that time it was possible, 10/12, but few months later when Hezbollah intervened military and also Iran provided enormous support, also military and economically then all the sudden we see groups like Al-Nusra and Daesh, which complicates the matter."

SOUNDBITE (English), Nabil EL ARABY, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, "Some questions have been addressed to me about as if the Arab League is like the Security Council and that we could do this about Yemen, about Libya, this about Syria. No, the League of the Arabs is a regional organisation, which is under chapter 8 of the United Nations, whenever there is matter related to peace and security we have to refer to the Security Council."

SOUNDBITE (English), Nabil EL ARABY, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, "The questions about financing, I think a very important meeting took place in Bahrein, to ensure and to tighten up and to ensure with the Head of the Security Council that there would be no financing for such terrorist organisation."

SOUNDBITE (English), Nabil EL ARABY, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, "We have been also suffering from terrorism and from Muslims terrorism, the majority of Egyptians are Muslims, we are suffering also from that (those attacks), just happens that you are also feeling it now. Regrettably it (the phenomenon) has crossed the Mediterranean and came to you. I think this is a problem where the world has to act together. I said yesterday to the EU's Foreign Minister, we all have to cooperate, exchange intelligence information, to do whatever is needed by experts, I'm not an expert on that matter."

SOUNDBITE (English), Nabil EL ARABY, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, "No doubt some of these mosques have people who are extremists and this is in every country, it is a local matter. Every country has to look at it and have to ensure that such people are thrown out and are not been allowed, in Egypt they are doing this now. In Egypt, the government is looking at all preachers in all mosques and to ensure that they follow the line and none of them will go out of that line, but it is not easy."