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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Softening condemnation
THE UN General Assembly held an emergency meeting on the Middle East crisis yesterday despite US and Israeli objections. General Assembly spokeswoman Sue Markham said the session concentrated mainly on hearing speeches and then adjourned until Friday afternoon, when UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will report on the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit.While the US did not succeed in delaying the meeting, it did succeed in holding off the General Assembly's consideration of a draft resolution prepared by the Arab countries condemning the "excessive use of force" by Israeli soldiers. Israel objected to the draft, saying that it would be one-sided and hurt prospects for peace, AP reported.
The Palestinian UN observer Nasser Al-Qidwa said that the draft resolution will be re-examined in light of what happens on the ground in the next few days and what Kofi Annan tells the General Assembly. Al-Qidwa defended the importance of the emergency meeting, noting that "attempts to create a better atmosphere and push things forward cannot exclude the necessity of looking very carefully and evaluating what happened and take positions vis à vis what happened."
The draft resolution is a stronger condemnation than the 7 October resolution adopted by Security Council. The European Union has indicated that it will seek to reword the draft to make it more widely acceptable, Western diplomats said.
Seeking backup
US SECRETARY of State Madeleine Albright held two hours of talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Riyadh yesterday seeking Syria's support for a cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Palestinians and for curbing the activities of the Islamic group Hizbullah. No details of the Albright-Al-Assad meeting have been released, but US officials said the three Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah on 7 October and the group's seizure of an Israeli colonel on Sunday topped the discussions.The meeting, held at the conference palace, was arranged by Saudi officials, AFP reported. On Tuesday, Albright made a courtesy call on Saudi King Fahd, who has been ill, then met with Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday morning. Abdullah said that Saudi Arabia backed the cease-fire deal reached at the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit and that he was hopeful it would lead to a change from violence to negotiation.
Jordanians want treaty scrapped
JORDANIAN Islamist and opposition MPs have filed a draft motion in parliament calling for the scrapping of Jordan's October 1994 peace treaty with Israel.Jordanian deputy Salameh Hiyari said the draft was presented Sunday by 12 deputies to the president of the 80-member lower chamber of deputies.
The move in parliament was the latest in a series of appeals by opposition and Islamist leaders for Jordan to take punitive measures against Israel over its military operations against the Palestinian people.
Massive street protests over the past two weeks have repeatedly urged the government to sever ties with Israel by closing its embassy in Amman and expelling the ambassador.
Hiyari said he hoped the draft would be debated once parliament reconvenes in November from a summer recess.
The MPs based their request on article 95 of the Jordanian constitution, which stipulates that 10 deputies or more are allowed to propose an amendment or change of legislation, explained Hiyari.
Jordan, which has a large Palestinian population, has strongly protested over Israel's use of force against unarmed Palestinians and has indefinitely delayed sending a new ambassador to Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, the families of Israeli diplomats posted in Amman have stayed behind in Israel after last week's Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur and do not plan to return until the regional tensions ease, said an Israeli embassy source. Some protesters have tried to march on the hilltop embassy, but have been blocked by Jordanian security forces.
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