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TITLE: Palestinians Seek U.N. Security |
AUTHOR: Edith M. Lederer |
PUB: AP |
DATE: March 13, 2001 |
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The Palestinians sought an immediate Security Council meeting in a fresh attempt to win approval for establishing a U.N. force to protect Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinian U.N. envoy said in a letter Monday that Israel's "bloody military campaign'' has gotten worse since December, when the council defeated a resolution to authorize a U.N. observer force after an intense U.S. campaign against it. "The Palestinian people under Israeli occupation are now suffocated and besieged,'' Nasser al-Kidwa said, citing new Israeli restrictions on the movement of people and goods, including roadblocks, trenches and the bulldozing of paved roads. He urged the Security Council "to consider the increasingly dangerous situation on the ground ... with the aim of taking the necessary measures, including the establishment of a United Nations observer force.'' Israel opposes a U.N. force, arguing instead for continued direct negotiations between the two sides to end the fighting that has killed 425 people since Sept. 28, including 349 Palestinians, 57 Israeli Jews and 19 others. Israel's mission to the United Nations said Monday the Palestinians had started the violence and that to now ask for international intervention was cynical and unacceptable. Earlier Monday, Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo asked the Security Council to review Israel's tightening blockade of Palestinian territories and create an international force to protect the Palestinians. Bangladesh's U.N. Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury presented al-Kidwa's letter to the council Monday afternoon on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement of developing countries, which spearheaded the Palestinian's unsuccessful campaign three months ago for a U.N. force. "The council listened very attentively, but there was no decision taken,'' Ukraine's deputy ambassador Valeri Kuchynski said. The United States mounted a campaign to block the original Palestinian proposal because Israel objected to it. Despite a personal appeal from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the Palestinians failed to get the necessary nine "yes'' votes for a U.N. force in the 15-member council on Dec. 18. Since then, the makeup of the Security Council has changed, with five new non-permanent members. China's deputy U.N. ambassador Shen Guofang, whose country backs the Palestinians, said after Monday's council meeting that "the situation is really ... deteriorating, and we hope that the council would discuss the issue ... and hopefully we can take some measures.'' END |