I would like to start by expressing my gratitude for your kind invitation to address your parliament, the members of which, representing more than 450 million Europeans, support the most successful regional integration in the whole world. I also do appreciate your warm welcome and the friendly feelings that you have shown to me.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

      When addressing the European Parliament one has no choice but to express great admiration for the diligent work accomplished on the European continent for many decades, during which your countries were able, by reason and by willpower, to forget the painful pages of the past and to open another promising chapter that includes many instances of success. The high international status that the European Parliament enjoys today, represents a beacon of inspiration for many other areas in the world.

      We, in the Arab world, have the Arab League experience that we hope could reach what you have accomplished. I would like here to emphasise that democracy is not a mere necessity for each state but an indispensable condition for the success of regional integration and stability of the international relations in any region, because it prevents a state to decide arbitrarily on what should be shared by all states and peoples.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

      The State of Qatar, as you know, has chosen democracy as a means to protect human rights and the people’s participation.

      Her tendency towards democracy corresponds with our obligatory practice of the Al-Shoura principle, which is acknowledged in Islam as a basic rule, not to be disregarded, but to be applied in order to expand participation, so that it will not only favour a limited class but spread to include all people. Also, it will not be practiced selectively, but will be recognized as a right that cannot be ignored or trespassed.

      If the reality in our area sometimes shows the contrary, then this is not due to any deficiency in the Shoura principle itself, but is due to misinterpretation and malpractice. Islam does not only urge its people to participate in public affairs, but it also admonishes them to respect minorities and to protect their rights, constantly reminding them to be acquainted with other world cultures and to interact with them as well in a give-and-take relationship.

      I am pleased to know that many of my European friends are aware of this fact and I applaud their knowledge of the history of their southern neightbours. This confirms tolerance and the wish for creative convergence between civilizations. I would like to mention that the Arabs were the bridge on which the Greek civilization has crossed to Europe, by translating into Arabic the main intellectual works of the famous Greek philosophers and thinkers, which then were being transferred to the European intellect and consequently triggered the renaissance.

      Many people came into contact with Islam and converted to this religion with their full conviction and acceptance through interaction with Muslims and the cultural communication with them. Thus Islam has spread by dialogue and flourished by conviction, and has never been imposed by force, although there are people who say otherwise: they err and they have wronged Islam.

      It is necessary here, ladies and gentlemen, to emphasise the importance of dialogue between the followers of religion and to exert all efforts for its continuity, in order to avoid any artificial and useless clash, unfortunately called for by some individuals and groups from both East and West, who are misguided and fight with ignorance.

      Those who differ from them in ideology or faith, have become enemies to those who are different from them in race or colour. They did not see richness in the diversity of languages and ethnicities and the call for rapprochement and dialogue in this world. I take this opportunity to call upon all reasonable, wise and honest people, both in the East and the West, to stand up together to block these cries for division and intolerance, which threaten peace and the respect for religions and holy places, so as not to endanger them.

      It is equally important to cooperate in order to fight against distortion, caused by troublemakers, ignorant people and extremists, of the perceptions fabricated by each party about the other. The State of Qatar continuously exerts her efforts for this purpose and hosts many forums with the aim to encourage the dialogue between civilizations, amongst which is the annual forum for dialogue between religions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

      Middle-Eastern affairs have always remained of significant importance to Europe, because of the geographical proximity of the two regions and their political, economic and cultural continuity, which has never ceased to exist throughout history.

      This proximity makes it the undoubted interest of Europe to support this comprehensive reform in the countries of the Middle East, and should encourage Europe to continue on this path with seriousness and with no turning back on democracy and without abusing the concept of democracy by empty words, as sometimes happens.

      Comprehensive reform and real democracy are the way to a better Middle East, so that its countries may experience stability and its peoples enjoy freedom, its institutions getting stronger and its states may progress on the basis of respect for the law. A Middle East, the people of which have all the basics and scientific and economic means to deal as equals with their neighbours and the rest of the world, joining them and not being alienated from them. In this respect, we know, and probably Europe knows better, that immigration from or through the Middle East becomes a huge challenge. Although Europe has worked very hard for years to face this challenge, successful solutions always need to go back to the roots of the problem and to deal with its causes, not only its symptoms.

      So when the reform process succeeds and the culture of democracy stabilizes in the Middle East, and when its peoples are able to fight corruption in all its forms, the majority of those who were looking for freedom and decent life outside their countries, will no longer emigrate as long as they find in their own countries what they aspire for.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

      Consolidation of democracy and achieving peace in the Middle East are goals of equal importance. Lack of democracy and not reaching a just solution for the Palestinian cause have produced various forms of violence, which some people consider as terrorism to be fought against with the most severe means, without differentiating between one form or another or considering ways to remove the causes that nourish it.

      As we denounce all forms of terrorism and work together with the international community to face it, we are very keen to differentiate between the unjustified frightening of innocent people under whatever pretext, which should be repudiated, and what is the legitimate right to resist occupation according to international laws and customs.

      We believe that a just solution to the Palestinian question should be based on the implementation of all international resolutions by both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, with the support of the international community to both sides, as to avoid the level of complexity to which their relations have reached recently.

      The Palestinian government, constituted by the Hamas Movement in accordance with the free will of the Palestinian people in the previous months, should have been given the opportunity to work for the people who have elected it. Instead of rewarding the Palestinian people for practicing democracy, something rarely witnessed in our region, they have been punished for it.

      I do not understand how an embargo can be imposed on a government that has been democratically elected and how collective sanctions can be imposed on the whole of the people, merely because it practiced its democratic right to elect who will govern it. Is this not a double standard to demand a free vote, and then object to its results? Settling the Palestinian question is linked to the readiness of Israel to fulfill all its obligations by implementing the international resolutions, which stipulate the withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with the holy city of Jerusalem as its capital, the immediate ending of the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure and the killing and torturing of civilians, as a result of which innocent Palestinians in the occupied territories have lost their lives, the last instance being the massacre in Beit Hanoun.

      This is the way out for the Palestinian question from the impasse that it has reached, and we see that the international community ought to exert more diligent efforts to reach a quick solution, as this would not only benefit the Middle East, but also the whole world.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

      The need to find a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict is being reconfirmed by the recent destructive war by Israel against Lebanon. Now that the fighting has stopped and the UNIFIL forces, which Qatar decided to join, have started to perform their tasks, we hope that Lebanon will become able to exercise its sovereignty on all its land and that Israel obliges itself to respect this sovereignty.

      As to Iraq, we hope that this country will overcome is dilemma and keep its sovereignty and unity of its territories and that the Iraqi people will recover their security and freedom. I am confident that the European Parliament, which is well aware of the dangers that the Iraqi situation poses on the regional stability in the Middle East, will double its efforts to help Iraq to overcome this dangerous dilemma it is going through. Also, stability in the Middle East requires from the European Parliament to continue its efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the question of the Iranian nuclear programme, confirming its goals as solely peaceful and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

      On this point we repeat our call to make the Middle East a region free of nuclear weapons and to oblige Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

      Before ending my speech I would like to refer to the strength of the cooperation in relations between the European union and Qatar in particular and the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States in general the State of Qatar has been eager, since signing in 1989 the cooperation treaty between the countries of the Cooperation Council of the Arab Gulf States and the then EEC, to develop its relations with the European countries in different fields.

      In the field of energy alone, Qatar has signed contracts with a number of countries of the European Union, amongst which Italy, Belgium, Britain and Spain, to meet some of their demand for natural gas. In this important field, besides other cultural, political and economic areas, Qatar and the European Union can strengthen their ties and develop their relations.

      I thank you again, Peace be on you, and God’s mercy and blessings.