Libya seeks Security Council meet on UN Gaza report



UNITED NATIONS- Libya on Tuesday pressed for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to weigh a UN report that condemned the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, diplomats said.
Libya's deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi told AFP that his country circulated a letter on behalf of the UN Arab group requesting "an emergency meeting" of the 15-member body to consider the UN report.



Libya seeks Security Council meet on UN Gaza report
The report, released by an independent international fact-finding mission headed by former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone last month, also accused Israel and Palestinian armed groups of committing war crimes during the three-week Gaza war that erupted December 27.
Arab diplomats said the Security Council was to hold consultations Wednesday to decide whether or not to hold a formal meeting on the Goldstone report.
"We are welcoming Libya's step that they have asked the Security Council to meet tomorrow (Wednesday) to discuss the Goldstone report," Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said in a telephone conversation from Rome.
"Libya's step is supporting the Palestinian people's rights."
Earlier in the day, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP that Abbas was "seriously studying" the possibility of asking that a UN Gaza war report be passed on to the Security Council.
The move appeared to mark an about-turn as the Palestinian delegation last Friday backed a move at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to defer a vote on whether the report should be passed on.
The United States had welcomed the decision by the UN rights body to delay a vote on the UN report.
"We appreciate the decision to defer consideration of the Goldstone report and will continue to focus on working with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to re-launch permanent status negotiations as soon as possible," US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer said Friday.
"We also encourage domestic investigations of credible allegations of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law," added Brimmer, who heads the US delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The United States, which recently joined the 47-member Council after remaining on the sidelines for years, had opposed endorsement of the report, while the European Union had also expressed concern about moves to adopt a resolution endorsing its recommendations.
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Wednesday, October 7th 2009
AFP
           


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