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U.N. demands Israeli withdrawal

Al-Kidwa
Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, urged Israel to heed the Security Council resolution  


UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council has adopted a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw its troops from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah.

The resolution does not specify that Israel's withdrawal should be immediate, and it urged both sides to cooperate with U.S. Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni.

The resolution passed 14-0. Syria, which wanted a stronger condemnation of Israel, did not attend the final vote.

Palestinian U.N. delegate Nasser Al-Kidwa said: "We will abide by the provisions of the resolution and we call on Israel to declare a similar position with a view to immediately implementing the resolution."

Israel's Ambassador Yehuda Lancry praised the Zinni aspect of the resolution but denounced the pullback demand.

"The Security Council is giving a prize to the Palestinian terrorists," Lancry said. "We must condemn this. We cannot accept this."

During the lengthy debate before the vote, Palestinian and Israeli delegates each blamed the other for the current Mideast crisis.

The session was requested by Palestinians after Israeli forces moved into Palestinian-controlled towns Friday, and smashed most of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound. (Full story)

The U.S. representative, James Cunningham, said the United States agreed with Israel's right to defend itself but noted Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement that "any actions need to be carried out with a careful view as to the consequences."

After the vote was taken, Syrian Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe returned to the Security Council chambers and addressed the delegates, saying the resolution was not tough enough on the Israelis.

"It does not condemn Israeli attacks against Palestinian people," Wehbe said. "Consequently (it) treats the victim and the criminal equally."

The Syrian ambassador also called for the Council to recognize the Arab peace initiative, adopted by the Arab League at its summit in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday.

At the opening of the session, Annan expressed his deep alarm at the escalation of violence in recent days.

He warned Palestinians that terrorism would not bring them closer to having an independent state. And he warned Israel that its use of military force will not bring peace.

Al-Kidwa characterized Israel's military action on Friday as an "insane step" taken by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his government. He warned Israel that if Israeli forces harm Arafat, it would be "the mother of all mistakes."

He accused Sharon of planning the destruction of the Palestinian Authority and the elected Palestinian leadership, and the removal of Arafat from power. He also accused Israel of planning to re-occupy Palestinian-controlled areas and "throwing the situation back to pre-Oslo," referring to the 1993 accords that sought to establish a peace process between Israel and Palestinians.

Al-Kidwa urged the Council to issue an order to put an end to Israel's acts of aggression, and to call on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian-controlled territories.

In his response, Israeli ambassador Yehuda Lancry first reminded the Council of recent acts of Palestinian terrorists. He said that many of these acts occurred in the past two weeks, after the arrival of U.S. envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni.

The deadliest incident came on Wednesday, when a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a Passover feast, called a Seder, in a hotel in the Israeli town of Netanya.

Lancry asserted that Israel had embraced Zinni's efforts to restore negotiations, by pulling its troops out of the center of Palestinian towns, and halting further actions despite more Palestinian violence.

He then accused Arafat and the Palestinian Authority of failing to take the most minimum steps to stop terror, even though this constituted part of the commitments Arafat made at the start of the Oslo process.

Lancry said Israel had a right to defend itself, and would take all necessary measures to avoid harm to civilians. He said Israel had no plans to re-occupy Palestinian-controlled areas but would try to uproot terrorist networks that are there.



 
 
 
 







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