An official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed to Qatar News Agency his astonishment at the statement made by an official source at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 17 January 2010 commenting on the State of Qatar's clarification of the truth about the letter requested by the USA on the Palestinian issue and the peace process.
The Qatari official source reiterated that the note addressed by the State of Qatar to US State Department included what had been agreed upon by the Arab Ministerial Committee commissioned to follow up the Arab Peace Initiative at the consultative meeting held in New York on 26 September 2009 at which it was agreed that the State of Qatar, as the chairman of the Arab Summit, would notify the US side of what had been agreed upon. The State of Qatar did convey the exact content of what had been agreed upon to the US side. Included in the note conveyed to the American side was the request to receive a letter in the light of the talks conducted with Senator George Mitchell, the US President's Special Envoy, in which the US Administration was requested to provide guarantees concerning the peace process. The Arab Republic of Egypt took part in the above meeting as a member of the committee and approved what was agreed on, the Qatari official said.
He pointed out that H.E. Amro Mousa, the Arab League Secretary General, had praised then the accuracy of the note served to the US Administration and delivering what had been agreed upon. At the meeting.
He added that the statement by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the clarification made by H.E. Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on 14 January 2010 on the issue were sufficient to make full clarification of the facts and remove any ambiguity or suspicion.
The statement by the Arab League Secretary General on Saturday 16 January 2010 confirmed what the official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar stated on the issue. Indeed, Mr. Amro Mousa said, "? and we underlined the need to receive a written letter on the contents of what had been discussed and agreed upon at the Arab meeting with Mr. Mitchell." He pointed out that the note was submitted by the State of Qatar had actually been received and was distributed to the members of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee.
The Qatari official expressed his astonishment at the claim in the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt that the note addressed by the State of Qatar to the American side lacked a lot of the required accuracy and that it was weak in its format and content. The Qatari official added that the note, in fact, contained only what the Arab Ministers with membership of the committee had agreed upon in letter and spirit at the above-mentioned meeting. If the brothers in Egypt considered that what had been agreed upon by the Arab Peace Committee lacked a lot of the required accuracy and that it was weak in its format and content, they should have raised their objections then or they should have notified the Arab League General Secretariat through diplomatic channels, instead of making statements of no avail and in a manner that did not serve the Arab position on the peace process and the Palestinian cause.
The Qatari official source added that the Egyptian official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Arab Republic of Egypt raised once again in his statements doubts on the submission of the letter of guarantees and described it as a note and not a letter. The Qatari official wondered if there was a difference between a memorandum and a letter in practices by states or diplomatic conventions. They were both used for the same purpose, he said.
In reply to the statement by the official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Arab Republic of Egypt that what happened was part of a campaign directed against the Arab Republic of Egypt and a distortion of Egypt's position, he said that it was the brothers in the Arab Republic of Egypt who started to make a lot of statements against the State of Qatar on various occasions. He added that Qatar decided not to reply to them then. However, in view of the continued accusations of committing mistakes, it was found necessary by us to clarify them and state our position on them.
The Qatari official source concluded his statement by stressing the need to focus attention on the restoration of the Arab rights, lifting of the siege on and suffering by the brotherly Palestinian people and avoiding debates that did not serve Arab interests.