UNSC accepts Libya’s request to hold talks on Goldstone report

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss Libya's request for an emergency session on a report that accused Israel of committing war crimes during Israel's aggression on Gaza.

Vietnam's Ambassador Le Luong Minh, who holds the council presidency this month, said he set closed-door talks after receiving the request from Libya, the only Arab member on the 15-nation council. The Palestinian UN Mission issued a press release saying it affirmed full support for the Libyan request.

Despite recent efforts by the U.S. to prevent a UN resolution on the report, Libya was "waiting for a push" on the behalf of the Muslim nations or the Arab league to initiate a vote on the report's findings, New York sources said Tuesday.

Libya holds two key positions in the UN which make it easier for the country to initiate a session on the report - it is a member of the Security Council, and one of its representatives is currently serving as the president of the General Assembly. Libya has the authority to convene the UN Security Council to vote on the Goldstone report in the name of the Muslim nations or the Arab League.

If the Security Council session on the Goldstone report ends without a resolution or an American veto, Libya could convene the General Assembly, whose vote cannot be vetoed.

It’s an another arena where the Goldstone report could come up for vote in the UN's fourth committee, which deals with political issues and holds sessions within the framework of the General Assembly.

A senior Western diplomat told Haaretz that in principle, Libya could convene a General Assembly session on the Goldstone report, but that he thought that "Libya will hesitate to take such an initiative as long as the Palestinian Authority is not interested in such a UN session. Libya will appear ridiculous if the involved party doesn't want a session, and it calls for one."

Arab diplomats said the Security Council was to hold consultations Wednesday to decide whether or not to hold a formal meeting on the Goldstone report. "We are welcoming Libya's step that they have asked the Security Council to meet tomorrow (Wednesday) to discuss the Goldstone report," Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said in a telephone conversation from Rome. "Libya's step is supporting the Palestinian people's rights."

Earlier in the day, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said that Abbas was "seriously studying" the possibility of asking that a UN Gaza war report be passed on to the Security Council. The move appeared to mark an about-turn as the Palestinian delegation last Friday backed a move at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to defer a vote on whether the report should be passed on. Abbas was under pressure from all Palestinian factions and even from within his own movement to exploit Goldstone for all its worth.

Wednesday 07-10-2009