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Swift Action Urged to Stop Violence in Mideast
China has asked for a quick reaction by the international community to violence in the Middle East, a situation that is the concern of all the world people, said Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Wang Yingfan on Saturday.
The UN Security Council has been working very hard to find a solution to the situation in the Middle East, and China has participated very actively in the council's work, Wang said before joining a new council meeting on Saturday afternoon.
The meeting was one of many in a marathon consultation to work out a council resolution to stop the week-long violence that has so far resulted in over 70, mainly Palestinian, deaths.
China is doing all it can to allow for the continuation of the peace process in the Middle East. The country believes that peace in the Middle East would be in the interests of all the people in the region and in the world at large, Wang said.
"We hope that all the parties involved will practice restraint and make efforts to stop the present violence and keep the peace process on the right track,'' he said.
The council's closed-door meeting, which started on Friday afternoon and went on until early Saturday morning, drew up a draft resolution proposed by a number of developing countries representing the 114-member non-aligned movement.
The draft condemns Israel's "excessive use of force against the Palestinian population,'' and blames Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon for provoking rioting in the occupied Palestinian territories and in some Arab Israeli towns since September 28.
The United States has demanded that some Israel-targeted words in the draft be omitted or watered down, and it threatened to veto the resolution if this request was not carried out. The non-aligned group has stuck to the current text and has asked for a vote to be taken soon on the grounds that the violence is continuing and the situation needs a quick reaction.
The United States requested a delay on the vote to give President Bill Clinton more time to talk with concerned parties in the Middle East. He cancelled a weekend trip to discuss the latest developments over the telephone with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians.
It is yet to be seen if there will be any change in the US attitude towards the draft resolution.
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