Morocco calls UN security council to compel Israel to evacuate Palestinian territories
Morocco-Palestine, Politics, 4/10/2002

Morocco's delegate to the United Nations Organization, Mohamed Bennouna, Tuesday called the Security council to use all available legal means to compel Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories it has invaded and to abide by U.N resolutions.

Addressing a two-day open debate on the situation in the Middle East, the delegate stressed that urgent action is needed to stop the bloodshed in Palestine and warned that everyday brings new tragedies.

He further hoped that ongoing efforts by the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, will bear fruits and that the Security council support these efforts by using all legal means available to compel Israel to enforce U.N. resolutions, lift the siege imposed on Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, immediately stop the bloodshed in Palestine and withdraw from the Palestinian territories it is illegally occupying.

After he recalled last Sunday's march in Rabat in which people from all over Morocco expressed their pain and shared the Palestinian plight, he underscored that the Israeli premier has chosen to defy the whole world, the security council, its permanent members as well as the international public opinion, by ignoring all calls for Israel to withdraw. Sharon, he went on, answers to these calls that the Israeli army will only withdraw when it will complete its mission, which means that it will carry on its mission in total defiance of humanitarian law, and of the existence of thousands of civilians it is terrorizing.

The Moroccan diplomat said the Arab world had held out the hand of peace in Beirut at the recent Arab League Summit, before warning that continuing the escalation of violence was to jeopardize the future. The Arab States wanted peace and were prepared to live alongside the Israeli State. The hand that had been held out must be grasped -- a dialogue with Mr. Arafat, the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people, must be undertaken.

He also recalled that King Mohammed VI, chairman of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) committee, renewed on Monday Morocco's total support to the Palestinian people in the difficult times they have been living since the Israeli invasion.

Israel's exactions are a serious attempt to the very values that Israel claims to be upholding, he stressed adding that more and more voices are heard calling for an international force to be deployed to protect the Palestinian people.

Morocco grants the same value to any human life and condemns all acts targeting innocent civilians. We pray that Palestinians and Israelis will eventually live in peace and in mutual respect, he concluded.

After the open debate on the situation in the Middle East, the Security Council began on Tuesday informal consultations on a draft resolution sponsored by Syria.

The proposed text condemns the failure to implement Council resolutions 1402 and 1403 and, among other points, calls on Israel to effectively respect the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory, says UN spokesman Fred Eckhard.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan environment network denounces Israel's destruction of Palestinian environment   (4/9/2002)
  King Mohammed holds phone talks with president Arafat   (4/9/2002)
  Moroccan dailies donate Sunday's receipts to Palestinian intifada   (4/8/2002)

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