UN to Hold Emergency Special Session on Middle East ViolenceThe United Nations General Assembly has decided to hold an emergency special session on Wednesday to consider the violence between Israelis and Palestinians, a UN spokeswoman announced Tuesday.The General Assembly made the decision at the request of Arab and other developing countries, said Susan Markham, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Harri Holkeri. The General Assembly was requested to call the session by the Arab group of nations, backed by the 114-member group of nonaligned countries. Arab nations want the General Assembly to condemn acts of violence and the excessive use of force by the Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians. Decisions made by the General Assembly are non-binding. The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution earlier this month which condemned the "excessive use of force" against Palestinians but not mentioning Israel by name. The Security Council resolutions can have the force of international law. The emergency special session was originally convened in April 1997 to discuss Israeli action in the occupied territories. This will be the fifth it has been convened. According to reports reaching here, some 105 people have been killed in clashes which erupted after Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited a Jerusalem holy shrine on September 28. Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed Tuesday at a summit in Egypt to end the violence. |
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