CAIRO, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Malki said Thursday that Arab countries are seeking to form a multilateral international mechanism to sponsor the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
His made the statement a press conference following a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo to formulate an Arab action plan against the U.S. decision to recognize the disputed holy city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Malki said the U.S. move has ended its exclusive sponsorship of the peace process, adding that there are efforts to establish a multilateral mechanism to oversee the peace talks that have been stalled since 2014.
"We will not allow the United States to be the only peace sponsor" in the new mechanism, he said.
The Palestinian minister also said measures must be taken against countries siding with the U.S. over the issue of Jerusalem, which are revered by Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, secretary-general of the Arab League, said a new sponsor mechanism is still being discussed, as more parties might participate in the peace process.
Earlier in the day, Malki said during the foreign ministers' meeting that Palestine had submitted a draft resolution to the Arab League urging Arab states to work with international actors to establish a multilateral international mechanism under the umbrella of the United Nations to broker the Middle East peace process.
Israel took over East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later declared the whole city as its eternal capital in a move largely rejected by the international community. The Palestinians wants to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
In angry response to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital last December, the Palestinians said Washington is no longer qualified as the major sponsor of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
