The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Palestinians to seek full U.N. membership - Abbas
- Haitian lawmakers approve new pick for premier
- U.N. Security Council eases sanctions on Libya
| Palestinians to seek full U.N. membership - Abbas Posted: 16 Sep 2011 08:47 PM PDT RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday he would demand full membership of the United Nations for a Palestinian state when he goes to the U.N. General Assembly next week, setting up a diplomatic clash with Israel and the United States.
"We are going to the United Nations to request our legitimate right, obtaining full membership for Palestine in this organisation," Abbas said in a televised speech. "We are going to the Security Council," he added, to rapturous applause from his audience of Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, signalling his determination to press ahead despite efforts by U.S. and European officials to dissuade him. Both Israel and its main ally, the United States, firmly oppose the initiative, arguing that a Palestinian state can only be created through direct negotiations. The Palestinians say almost 20 years of on-off direct talks on statehood envisaged by interim peace accords have hit a dead end for reasons including Israel's refusal to stop expanding settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, lands it took in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and which Palestinians want, along with the Gaza Strip, for an independent state. The last round of the U.S.-backed talks between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu collapsed nearly a year ago when the Jewish state declined to extend a partial moratorium on West Bank settlement building. A full halt to such construction on territory the Palestinians say they need for a viable state is one condition they have set for a resumption of negotiations. Israel withdrew settlers from tiny, coastal Gaza in 2005. Abbas said the U.N. step would not "end the occupation", but would strengthen the Palestinians' hand. Washington has already said it will veto any statehood resolution in the Security Council and some U.S. politicians have said they will try to cut American aid to the Palestinians, totalling some $500 million a year, if they refuse to back down. A statement from Netanyahu's office issued after the speech said the Palestinians were "systematically" avoiding direct talks with Israel. Abbas said recognition as a state would allow a return to peace talks, but on a stronger footing. "Negotiations, no matter how difficult, will be between one state and another." A flurry of diplomacy led predominantly by the European Union has sought to avert the U.N. showdown by seeking a deal that would bring about a return to talks within weeks, diplomats say. However, the mediation is struggling in the face of long-standing disagreements over the terms of reference. HAMAS SAYS ANY RESULT "COSMETIC" Failing that, the EU has also been trying to avoid a Security Council confrontation by persuading the Palestinians to accept a diluted upgrade to their status at the United Nations, where they are currently recognized as an "entity". If Washington does veto the resolution, as expected, the Palestinians could then go to the full U.N. General Assembly. It does not have the power to grant them full membership, but could recognise Palestine as a non-member state. Such a move would give the Palestinians possible access to other international bodies, including the International Criminal Court, from where it could seek to sue Israel over its longtime occupation of the West Bank. Abbas said there was no decision on alternative options the Palestinians could pursue in the event of failure. "If we succeed, and this is what we are working towards, then we must know that the day following the recognition of the state, the occupation will not end," Abbas said. "But we will have obtained the world's recognition that our state is occupied and that our land is occupied and not disputed territory, as the Israeli government claims," he said. Abbas' Islamist rivals in the Hamas movement, which governs Gaza, dismissed the plan. A spokesman said any result would be "cosmetic, especially when Mahmoud Abbas said his aim is to return to the negotiations with the occupation after all". The Arab League on Tuesday threw its support behind Abbas's initiative. Arab foreign ministers, who began efforts in July to organise backing for the Palestinian bid, decided to set up a team comprising the League head and six League members to further pursue the controversial statehood application. Long criticized at home for appearing weak in the face foreign pressure, Abbas signalled no retreat from his plan. "You certainly don't believe me," he joked during the speech, adding that he would present the application after delivering his speech to the General Assembly on Sept. 23 -- when Netanyahu is also addressing the gathering He also stressed that any popular protests in support of his initiative should be peaceful. Israel fears that the U.N. showdown could spark violence across the West Bank and is putting its forces on high alert in the area. A French government official warned of a race against time. "What (Europeans) would like is the relaunch of peace talks. Our feeling is that time is running out for peace and even more so with the Arab Spring," he said, alluding to popular revolutions in several Arab countries this year. "These states will be democratic countries that will have to consider public opinion even more ... Today we still have a window of opportunity for peace but the feeling is that if these renewed peace talks don't happen then the Palestinian territories, which are fairly calm (now), could explode." Copyright © 2011 Reuters | ||
| Haitian lawmakers approve new pick for premier Posted: 16 Sep 2011 08:47 PM PDT PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian lawmakers approved the nomination of a U.N. development expert to serve as prime minister on Friday, handing President Michel Martelly a tentative victory in his third attempt to install a new head of government in the earthquake-ravaged Caribbean nation. The lower house of Parliament unanimously approved Martelly's designation of Garry Conille, 45, a medical doctor who had served as aide to former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the latter's role as special U.N. Haiti envoy. Conille must still be approved by the Senate. But his approval in the lower house followed the rejection by Haitian lawmakers in June and August of two previous nominees for premier. That blocked the formation of a new Haitian government for months after Martelly, a former pop star, took office with a promise to lift Haiti out of its misery and turn the poorest country in the America's into a Caribbean success story. "I thank Parliament, particularly the lower house, for the confidence placed in me," Conille told Reuters after the Chamber of Deputies approved his selection by a vote of 89-0. "My will is to accompany the president in his commitment to solve the problems facing the Haitian people and I'm ready to serve once the process is completed." Haiti, known for decades of dictatorship, corruption and instability, faces a huge reconstruction task after last year's catastrophic earthquake and a cholera epidemic. Both houses of Haiti's Parliament are dominated by senators and deputies whose parties fielded rival candidates to Martelly in a turbulent two-round presidential election that he finally won in a March run-off vote. The rejection by lawmakers of previous picks for premier made by Martelly, who took office on May 14, have raised concerns among diplomats and donors who say Haiti desperately needs a stable working government to rebuild from the quake. Some parliamentarians had raised questions about Conille's eligibility for the post because he spent years outside the country, working for the United Nations. Haiti's Constitution requires a candidate for prime minister to have spent five consecutive years in Haiti before taking up the post. Lawmakers said Conille's residency was not an issue, however, since international treaties signed by Haiti allow nationals working for the U.N. to maintain their residency. Approval of Conille's nomination in the Senate was expected to come next week. Haitian authorities estimate the January 2010 earthquake killed more than 300,000 people and wrecked much of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Pressing tasks for the new government include effectively fighting the cholera epidemic that has killed more than 6,000 people since October. It must also try to provide shelter for tens of thousands of earthquake survivors who are still living in makeshift tent camps vulnerable to hurricanes and floods. (Editing by Tom Brown and Christopher Wilson) Copyright © 2011 Reuters | ||
| U.N. Security Council eases sanctions on Libya Posted: 16 Sep 2011 08:47 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Friday eased sanctions on Libya, including on its national oil company and central bank, to enable key institutions to recover after rebels won a civil war.
The 15-nation council voted unanimously for a resolution that also establishes a U.N. mission in Libya to help the North African nation get back on its feet after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. The resolution begins lifting punitive measures imposed on the oil-exporting country six months ago when Gaddafi was overseeing a crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators. Despite arguments among council members since then over the application of previous resolutions, especially NATO's bombing of Gaddafi's forces, the council came together after Libya's former rebels established control over most of the country. In Friday's resolution, the council declared "its determination to ensure that assets frozen pursuant to (U.N. sanctions resolutions) shall as soon as possible be made available to and for the benefit of the people of Libya." Earlier on Friday, the U.N. General Assembly approved a Libyan request to accredit envoys of the country's interim government as Tripoli's sole representatives at the world body, effectively recognizing the National Transitional Council. Both actions "make clear the international community's determination to support the new Libyan authorities, and the Libyan people," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement. The Security Council resolution lifts all sanctions against the Libyan National Oil Corp and Zueitina Oil Co as part of what British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said was an effort to "help kick-start Libya's economy and encourage economic self-sufficiency." The British-drafted text also partly eases sanctions on the central bank and other Libyan institutions, although special approval by the Security Council's Libya sanctions committee will still be needed to unfreeze their seized assets. The committee has already authorized the emergency unfreezing of some $16 billion of Libyan assets, held mainly by Western countries, Security Council diplomats say. But some measures are being kept "to ensure that previously frozen funds are released in a transparent and responsible way as the situation normalizes and the transition proceeds," U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told the council. Diplomats said one problem with immediately unfreezing all assets was confusion in some cases about exactly who would be able to benefit from them. ARMS EMBARGO An arms embargo will remain in place, but Libya's interim government and the United Nations will be allowed to import light weapons to maintain security. The resolution establishes a U.N. mission in Libya, which diplomats say will consist of up to 200 people in an initial three-month phase to help the government with a post-conflict transition. Their tasks are expected to include police training and electoral assistance, U.N. officials say. The resolution does not call, however, for the deployment of peacekeepers or police as part of the new U.N. Support Mission in Libya. Nor does it call for an end to the no-fly zone a March resolution imposed over the country, although diplomats say Libyan civil airliners will be allowed to fly provided they notify monitors of their flight plans. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, a prominent critic of NATO's air campaign in Libya, called for the prompt lifting of the no-fly-zone and also voiced concerns about human rights violations in Libya. "It's becoming increasingly clear that crimes were being committed by all parties to the conflict," he said. The National Transitional Council was represented at the Security Council meeting by Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy U.N. ambassador whose defection to the rebels in February inspired dozens of his country's diplomats worldwide to denounce Gaddafi. "A period of terror, of denial of freedom and violation of human rights has now come to an end for the Libyan people," Dabbashi told the council. He said Libya was the first instance of the much-quoted but seldom-applied U.N. "responsibility to protect" principle, "which was done in a reasonable manner, which saved the lives of thousands of Libyans and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Libya." (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Peter Cooney) Copyright © 2011 Reuters |
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