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Diplomats: Arabs and West agree on Gaza resolution

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-09 11:28

UNITED NATIONS – Key Arab nations and Western powers reached agreement Thursday on a UN resolution calling for an immediate and durable cease-fire between Hamas militants and Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and moved for an immediate vote in the Security Council.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, second from left, talks with the American Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, after leaving consultations on the situation in Gaza at United Nations Headquarters, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. [Agencies]

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced the agreement on the final wording of the resolution after a two-hour closed-door meeting.

The foreign ministers from the Arab nations, the United States, Britain and France then walked upstairs to the Security Council chamber for closed consultations, to be followed by a vote.

It will be up to Israel and Hamas to decide to stop their military activities, but the proposed resolution was supported by the United States, Israel's closest ally, and Arab nations that have close ties to Hamas.

"We are all very conscious that peace is made on the ground while resolutions are written in the United Nations," Miliband said. "Our job here is to support the efforts for peace on the ground and to help turn the good words on paper into changes on the ground that are desperately needed."

He said the resolution "will send a very strong signal about the determination of the whole international community to build a dignity for the people of Gaza and security for the people of Israel, and for all the nations here to make their contribution to that noble goal."

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said: "I just want to add, security for the people of Gaza, too."

The agreement came on the third day of an emergency meeting of the Security Council called by the Arabs to try to end the conflict that brought Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and many foreign ministers to UN headquarters. With Palestinian civilian casualties mounting, the Arabs are under intense pressure to get a resolution.

The resolution expresses "grave concern" at the escalating violence and the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and emphasizes the need to open all border crossings and achieve a lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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