Malaysia Remains Committed To Establishment Of Independent Palestine Without Preconditions - Mohamad

CYBERJAYA, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysia remains firmly committed to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state without any preconditions, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

However, he noted that the New York Declaration had imposed preconditions for the creation of such a state.

"We want an independent Palestinian state, full stop. Once it is established, whoever governs it is the right of the Palestinian people, and we will not interfere," he told the media after attending the 58th ASEAN Day celebration, officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim here today.

Mohamad said Malaysia feels uneasy with several conditions attached to the New York Declaration,  because they were not in line with Malaysia's foreign policy.

"We have always supported an independent Palestine. But we are not comfortable with the New York Declaration and its outcome," he stressed.

When asked whether Malaysia would formally convey its concerns to the United Nations (UN), Mohamad explained that there had been no official discussion on the document, only a roundtable meeting.

He said that although 122 countries, including Malaysia, had supported the proposal at the UN, the drafting of the final document was carried out through a roundtable process involving only seven to eight countries, without the full participation of all UN member states.

On July 31, the UN high-level conference on a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian issue concluded with the adoption of two key documents, the "New York Call" and the "New York Declaration", both of which supported a two-state solution.

However, Mohamad pointed out that neither document addressed the root cause of the conflict, which is the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine.

-- BERNAMA