UN Security Council Remains Divided over Draft on Middle EastThe United Nations Security Council was still at odds over a draft resolution on the recent Middle East violence after two days of closed-door consultations, UN diplomats said Friday evening.The draft, initiated by the Palestinian Observer to the United Nations, Nasser al-kidwa, was introduced to the 15-member Security Council on Thursday by Malaysia's Ambassador to the UN Hasmy Agam on behalf of the 114-member nonaligned group. According to the diplomats, at least two main points in the latest seven-point revised draft are in contention. Objecting to a provision that stressed the need "for a speedy and objective inquiry," Malaysia and Al-Kidwa, representing the Palestinians, want an international probe into the recent violence. The draft calls on Israel "to abide scrupulously" by the Fourth Geneva Convention on the treatment of wartime civilians. But the United States seeks to delete a phrase saying the convention was "applicable to all the territories occupied by Israel since 1967," the diplomats said. The council has agreed to condemn "all acts of violence, especially the excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians, resulting in injury and loss of life." But the original draft would have condemned "the acts of violence committed by the Israeli security forces and their excessive use of forces." The draft expresses deep concern over "the provocative act that took place at Al-Haram Al-Sharif on September 28" that resulted in "over 50 Palestinian deaths and the injury of approximately 2,000 Palestinian civilians as well as the deaths and injuries suffered by Israelis." It calls for "immediate cessation of hostilities and resumption of negotiations of the Middle East peace process." The recent waves of Middle East violence erupted after Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited on September 28 the Al-Haram Al-Sharif, a site revered by Arabs and Muslims as their third most holy shrine. |
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