The Hindu : U.N. backs idea of Palestinian State

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 14, 2002

International

International

U.N. backs idea of Palestinian State

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington, MARCH 13.In a landmark move, the United Nations Security Council has backed the idea of a Palestinian State after the United States surprised the Council by introducing a resolution to that effect.

The resolution calls for an immediate end to the violence and resumption of negotiations between the parties concerned. Further, the Council gave its blessings to the peace plan put forward by Saudi Arabia and the diplomatic initiatives of the United States Special Envoy, Antony Zinni. By formally endorsing the vision of a Palestinian State for the first time in the Security Council, the Bush administration has dropped its earlier stand that it is for the Israelis and the Palestinians to sort out the contentious issues.

The U.S. President, George W Bush and members of his administration have called earlier for the formation of a Palestinian State but this is the first time that Washington has brought this idea in a Security Council Resolution. The United States move came after Syria introduced a resolution on behalf of Arab States. "Our intent in doing this was to give a momentum to peace efforts and to decry violence and terror," the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., John Negroponte said.

After hectic last minute discussions, Washington amended the resolution adding a sentence "affirming a vision of a region where two States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognised borders". The resolution was eventually voted by 14 of the 15 members of the Council with Syria abstaining. The Syrian Ambassador said the final resolution was "very weak" and that it did not deal with the root cause of the problem — "the question of Israeli occupation".

Both the Israelis and the Palestinians welcomed the U.S. resolution. Calling it a "rare and remarkable" occurrence, the top Israeli diplomat said the resolution was "balanced''. The Palestinian observer at the U.N. called the resolution "important" while welcoming the Council's first-ever reference to the two States of Israel and Palestine.

Earlier, the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in his address to the members, criticised both the Israelis and Palestinians for the violence in the region. In unusually blunt remarks, Mr. Annan, called on the Palestinians to halt the "morally repugnant" acts of terror and asked the Israelis to end the "illegal occupation" of Palestinian territory and stop using excessive force.

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