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Annan Bleak on Diplomatic Moves to Mideast Violence
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Wednesday said that he expected no resolution to the Middle East crisis for several months and his own mediation on a UN observer force had not yielded results either.
Annan told a press conference here that "I think when you consider the level of violence and the weapons being used, it's almost a warlike situation if it is not a war situation," he said.
"What we need to do is not just bring the violence down and get the parties to pull away from the brink but get them to the table, " he said.
The Security Council asked Annan last week to try to reach some common ground on Palestinian leaders' demands for a 2,000-strong UN observer force in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to protect civilians.
Annan has said that Israel, which has rejected any international observers, needed to consent to foreign contingents before any could be put in the field. Palestinians contend that the council first has to order a protection force and have asked for a meeting, which began Wednesday afternoon.
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Wednesday adopted a draft decision, endorsing an inquiry into human rights violations by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Security Council began an urgent meeting on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the escalating violence in the Palestinian territories. The meeting was held at the request of the Libyan Mission to the United Nations, which holds the chairmanship of the Arab Group in the United Nations.
Representatives from such countries as Libya, Russia, Bangladesh, China and Malaysia called on the parties concerned, Israel in particular, to exercise restraint in order to prevent further escalation of the current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
More than 240 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed in nearly daily fighting that erupted on September 28.
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