Security Council calls on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian cities, urges sides to move to ceasefire
UN NEWS CENTRE, 30 March 2002
Security Council calls on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian cities, urges sides to move to ceasefire
30 March – Meeting in the early hours of Saturday morning in an emergency
session on Middle East violence that followed a four-hour debate the previous
night, the United Nations Security Council today adopted a resolution calling
on Israel to withdraw troops from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah,
and urging both parties to move immediately to a meaningful ceasefire.
The Council adopted resolution 1402 by a vote of
14 in favour to none opposed. Syria, the 15th member, did not participate
in the vote. Prior to the vote, the Council President, Ambassador Ole Peter
Kolby of Norway, said it was the common understanding of the members that
the draft's operative paragraph 1, which listed the specific demands to
the parties, did not indicate any sequence of the elements contained in
it.
Expressing grave concern at the further deterioration
of the situation in the Middle East, including the recent suicide bombings
in Israel and the military attack against the headquarters of the President
of the Palestinian Authority, the Council called on the sides to cooperate
fully with United States Special Envoy Anthony Zinni.
With the aim of resuming negotiations on a political
settlement, the Council urged the parties to implement the understanding
reached by the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet,
as a first step towards implementation of the recommendations made by a
committee chaired by former US Senator George Mitchell.
The Council also reiterated the demand of its earlier
resolution, 1397, for an immediate cessation of all acts of violence, including
all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction. It expressed
support for the efforts of Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the special
envoys to the Middle East to assist the parties to halt the violence and
to resume the peace process.
Late on Friday, at the outset of the debate that
preceded the Council's action, the Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the
Council to consider how the international community could help ensure that
the relevant Council resolutions became a reality, and how to help bring
the parties back to the negotiating table. He urged Israel to halt its
assault on the Palestinian Authority and called on the Palestinians to
accept the Zinni peace plan. Terrorism would not bring the Palestinian
people closer to the establishment of an independent Palestinian State,
he stressed. At the same time, he noted that he had consistently voiced
criticism over Israel's use of disproportionate lethal force.
In his statement, Israel's representative, Ambassador
Yehuda Lancry, stressed that the voice of the Palestinian leadership had
been the voice of terrorism rather than moderation and wondered what Israel
was to do in the face of the deliberate massacres and the failure of the
Palestinian leadership to fulfil its commitments. He said Israel had no
intention of occupying any territory under Palestinian control; rather,
it sought to uproot the terrorist network there. Israel, he said, would
keep its hand outstretched towards peace. Chairman Arafat could be convinced
to fight terrorism, but, for that to happen, the message sent to him must
be clear, comprehensive and unrelenting.
The Permanent Observer for Palestine, Nasser Al-Kidwa,
said the current Israeli military action represented the beginning of the
destruction of the elected Palestinian Authority, getting rid of Mr. Arafat,
and reoccupying Palestinian territory. That action, he pointed out, came
directly on the heels of the Arab League Summit in Beirut, which had adopted
landmark resolutions that could change the entire situation in the Middle
East region. The Council must uphold its responsibilities under the Charter
and follow up on implementation of resolution 1397, he said. It must also
address the grave situation created by the latest actions by Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and ensure that Israel put an end to acts of aggression and
withdrew its forces from the Palestinian territories, including Ramallah.
The Council debate, which involved representatives
of some 30 countries, began at 6:40 p.m. on Friday, a UN holiday, and was
suspended an hour before midnight. The Council then reconvened at 4:25
on Saturday morning to vote on the resolution.