Alberto Rubio
“Let there be no doubt, this is an aggression that has gone beyond any justification,” Omani Ambassador Omar Al Kathiri said, referring to the Israeli attack on Gaza, during his speech at a reception he hosted to celebrate the Sultanate’s National Day.
“Year after year my country celebrate this day, which serves us to reflect on the past and to drawn inspiration for Oman’s future,” the ambassador explained at the outset. “However,” he added, “this year the priority is to reaffirm Oman’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights to freedom, dignity and self-determination.” “Gaza is currently subjected to a brutal Israeli aggression, in which thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced,” he lamented.
Omar Al Kathiri then made an appeal “to all lawmakers to listen to their consciences and do everything in their power to stop this senseless war and end the suffering of civilians.” The ambassador welcomed “the announcement of the agreement reached last night (Tuesday) to establish a humanitarian truce” but insisted that “safe passages” must be opened so that humanitarian aid can enter the Strip.
Beyond circumstantial agreements, he pointed out that “the only solution is to put an end to the illegitimate Israeli occupation and establish an independent Palestinian State”. Al Kathiri advocated a “two-state solution” and called for “a return to the borders of June 1947, with East Jerusalem as its capital”.
After highlighting the “economic progress made by Oman” in recent years, he referred to the country’s goals for the future: “economic diversification, energy transition and carbon neutrality by 2050”, all of which are included in Vision 2040.
At the bilateral level, and after describing as “exceptional” the relations “that unite our royal houses”, he revealed that recently Sultan Haitham and King Felipe “exchanged views on significant ways to promote our relations in various spheres”. The foreign ministries of the two countries recently held a new round of political consultations in October, which Al Kathiri considered “fundamental” and “constructive”.
The launching of the second joint Spanish-Omani investment fund, as already advanced in his interview with The Diplomat, was another source of satisfaction for the ambassador, who assured that “there is a strong desire to strengthen our military relations as well”. In fact, the Omani government appointed in March a non-resident military attaché to its Embassy in Spain.
Finally, Al Kathiri informed that experts from both countries are working “to put the final touches to the Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation”.
The reception -in addition to the Nuncio of His Holiness, Bernardito Aúza, the Ambassador of the Arab League in Spain, Malek Twal, and the Director General for the Maghreb, Mediterranean and Middle East, Alberto Ucelay– was attended by almost all the Arab ambassadors, representatives of the Madrid City Council and Spanish companies.
