Jerusalem move could throw lifeline to terrorists: Mohamed bin Zayed tells US

Sheikh Mohamed presented an overview about the UAE foreign policy and its vision for the current developments in the region.

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, voiced on Saturday the UAE's concern over the negative effects of the US President's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on the stability in the region and the prospects for the peace process between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.
''The US move could throw a lifeline to terrorist and armed groups, which have begun to lose ground in the region,'' Sheikh Mohamed said during a meeting with a delegation from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Sheikh Mohamed and the 50-member WINEP delegation discussed a wide range of political issues of mutual concern and ways of enhancing strategic bilateral cooperation so as to serve interests of the two countries.
Sheikh Mohamed presented an overview about the UAE foreign policy and its vision for the current and evolving developments and events in the region.
Regional and international repercussions on the US unilateral move, which runs counter to international legitimacy resolutions, figured high on discussions between the two parties.
Sheikh Mohamed expressed his hope that the US Administration would reconsider its move and work basically in an effective and neutral manner to draft true principles for peace that serve all and realise development and stability in the region.
During the meeting, which was attended by Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the two parties tackled the situation in Yemen and the solutions on the table to end the crisis. They also discussed the latest developments in capital Sana'a and the criminal and repressive policies committed by the armed militias.

Sheikh Mohamed added that the UAE and the Arab Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen had reiterated several times their commitment to the political solution in Yemen, noting that that solution will never be at the expense of the security and stability in the region. ''It will also not be at the expense of enabling a military militia that operates outside the state authority and posing a direct threat to the security and stability of the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the region at large.''
Sheikh Mohamed referred to ballistic missiles launched towards Saudi cities with a clear support from a regional power that seeks to spread chaos and destruction in the region as it unfortunately did in other Arab cities.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi asserted that both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been and still working to ease the suffering of the Yemeni people by providing humanitarian and developmental assistance to the liberated Yemeni areas and opened land, air and sea routes to deliver humanitarian assistance to the affected cities that still under the control of the armed and terrorist groups.
The two parties also addressed the issues of terrorism and violence in light of international efforts to rid the region from these menaces. Latest situation in Syria, Lebanon and Libya and initiatives to find solutions to them were also touched.
''The UAE will pursue its cooperative approach with the international community in order to counter extremism, violence and terrorism and dry up sources of funding and eliminate extremist and terrorist platforms and ideologies,'' Sheikh Mohamed said.
In this respect, the two sides recognised the importance of doubling efforts and cooperation among countries of the world to fight terrorist groups, which have posed real risks to world peace and security. They also stressed the need for finding lasting settlements to other pressing issues.
The WINEP researchers and experts on Middle East affairs lauded the distinguished ties binding the UAE and the United States, their close joint coordination and cooperation in areas of countering terrorism and extremism as well as their vital role in consolidating stability and peace in the region and the world.

• UAE
• Abu Dhabi