UAE STATEMENT ON POTUS 7/16 REMARKS; POTUS CALL TO

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001207 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR NRAMCHAND E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP PREL KPAL AE SUBJECT: UAE STATEMENT ON POTUS 7/16 REMARKS; POTUS CALL TO UAE PRESIDENT REF: ABU DHABI 1191 ¶1. On July 18, the UAE's official news agency, WAM, released the following statement: Begin text. Khalifa Received Telephone Call From President Bush President H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan received here (Paris) Wednesday a telephone call from US President George W. Bush. During the telephone conversation, President Bush briefed Sheikh Khalifa on his initiative to hold an international conference for peace in the Middle East. President H.H. Sheikh Khalifa thanked the US President for his call and described the initiative of holding a conference as being "a move in the right direction." He went on to call for steps to be taken to activiate the initiative so as to reach a settlement that would put a final end to the suffering of the Palestinian people, on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative. "A just solution to the Palestinian problem is the key to the solution of most of the problems being faced in the Middle East," the President added. End text. SISON