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| Today: 09 February 2010 Time: 08:12 PM |
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| Malaysia urges Ban to include Israeli crimes in mandate of board of inquiry |
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| Politics 2/12/2009 9:01:00 AM |
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| Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefs correspondents on his recent travel |
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 12 (KUNA) -- Ambassador Hamidon Ali of Malaysia late Wednesday asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to expand the mandate of the UN Board of Inquiry, which he set up earlier this week to investigate the Israeli attacks on the UN premises in Gaza last month, to include the broader aggression on the Strip.
Ali made the request at the Palestinian Rights Committee, officially known as the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which held its first meeting of the year late Wednesday in the presence of Ban Ki-moon.
Ban established the board, headed by human rights activist Ian Martin, to look into the deaths and destruction of UN premises in Gaza last month. He expects a report in one month and is scheduled to present it to the Security Council thereafter.
Ban told the Committee late Wednesday that he came back from a visit to Gaza last month more determined than ever, not just to address Gaza's humanitarian and reconstruction needs, but also achieve the end of the occupation that began in 1967, the establishment of a Palestinian State, and a comprehensive, just and lasting peace between Israel and all its Arab neighbours.
Palestinian Envoy Riyadh Mansour supported Ali's request. He told the meeting that out of the ashes of the war in Gaza, Palestinians and Israelis "should see hope of going back to the negotiations to reach an agreement, where the occupation would end and the Palestinian State would be born." He did not know what government would come to power in Israel after Tuesday's elections, but lessons should be drawn from the 2007 Annapolis conference, he added. "It was important not to repeat the mistakes of yesterday, expecting different results." He stressed that Palestine could not negotiate indefinitely with any Israeli government without the end of the occupation that had started in 1967 and without allowing a Palestinian State to be born, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He also conceded that Palestine needs to "put our house in order as soon as possible" and commended some "positive" signs from the new Administration in Washington D.C., including a successful recent visit of Special Envoy George Mitchell to the region.
Concluding the meeting, the committee approved the provisional programme for the forthcoming UN Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, to be held on March 9-10 in Cairo, Egypt, on the theme of "International Response to the Humanitarian and Economic Needs of the Gaza Strip." The committee was established by the General Assembly in 1975 to recommend a programme to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights to self-determination. (end) sj.ema KUNA 120901 Feb 09NNNN
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