Speaker of Lower House of Parliament, Atef Tarawneh, cautioned against the forging of secret deals in the Middle East as a threat that might crush Arab aspirations to achieve peace and security.

He pointed to the EU as a model for regional integration and urged Arabs to end division and instability, during the Thursday session of the 27th Conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union in Cairo.

Tarawneh addressed the crisis in Gaza and warned that unless Arabs presented a unified front, Palestinians would continue to suffer and sustain casualties.

In regards to Syria, Tarawneh confirmed that Jordan insists that a political solution is reached through intra-Syrian negotiations. He reiterated that the Syrian crisis is contrary to Arab interests, stressing on the need to rapidly reach a solution.

The Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union was established in 1974 discuss the issues of the Arab world and holds conferences throughout the year headed by the parliament speaker of the host country.

This year parliamentary delegations from Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, Libya, Egypt, Morocco and Yemen are participating in the two-day conference.

The first session of the conference was held on Wednesday, where heads of Arab parliaments held a meeting with the consultative councils and representatives of participant countries.