Security Council to discuss UN Gaza report next week
AFP
UNITED NATIONS - A contentious UN report blasting the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip will be discussed next week as part of a rescheduled UN Security Council debate on the Middle East, diplomats said Wednesday.
The compromise move by a divided council was agreed in closed-door consultations following a Libyan request, backed by Arab and nonaligned countries, for "an emergency meeting" to consider the UN report.
US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the 15-member council merely agreed to bring forward the regular monthly debate on the Middle East from October 20 to next Wednesday.
Diplomats said Western ambassadors rejected the Libyan push for a meeting focused exclusively on the Goldstone report, which they say should be examined by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.
But Arab ambassadors made it clear that they planned to use next Wednesday's debate to turn the spotlight on the findings of the report.
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