Egypt rallies support for Arab-Islamic draft resolution on Palestine

Egypt asked member states of the UN Human Rights Commission to vote in favor of the Arab -Islamic draft resolution put forward to the UNHRC 57th session, slated for Wednesday.

The draft resolution assigns the UN Human Rights Commissioner and the UN to follow up human rights violations against Palestinians in the occupied territories and the implementation of the resolutions taken during the October extraordinary session of the UNHRC.

In that extraordinary meeting, the UN Agency dubbed as grave violations of human rights and international law the Israeli breaches of Palestinians' rights.

Statements to that end were made late Tuesday by Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister for Multilateral International Relations Soliman Awad.

Egypt has made intensive contacts over the past days with the UNHRC 53-member states and exhorted them to vote for the draft resolution tabled by the Arab and Islamic groups, he added.

The Egyptian contacts with the UNHRCS members, which were conducted via the ambassadors of these countries in Egypt and the Egyptian ambassadors in these countries, concentrated on the countries that had abstained from voting on a similar draft resolution in April.

The draft resolution, which was backed by 48 of the unhrc 53 member states, dwelt on the Palestinians' right of self determination.

A similar draft resolution in 2001, was favored by 44 UNHRC members.