Gaddafi wants UN to discuss war crimes
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi delivers a speech during the opening of the African Union summit in Sirte, Libya, in July. Photo/REUTERS
UNITED NATIONS, Wednesday
Libya has requested a meeting of the Security Council to discuss a UN report that accused Israel and Palestinian militants of war crimes during Israel’s offensive in Gaza, diplomats said.
Mr Dang Hoang Giang, a spokesman for the mission of Vietnam, which currently holds the council’s rotating presidency, said the Libyan request was being considered.
A Libyan spokesman, however, said he understood a meeting would be held today.
An investigation ordered by the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council and led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone found that both the Israeli armed forces and Hamas militants committed war crimes in the December-January war. But it was more critical of Israel.
Security Council
The council had been due to vote on Friday on a resolution that would have condemned Israel’s failure to cooperate with the inquiry and forwarded the report to the Security Council.
But action was postponed until March after U.S. pressure aimed at getting the peace process back on track. A Palestinian official said the Palestinian Authority had agreed to a request from the United States, European Union and Russia for a delay.
The Libyan spokesman, Ahmed Gebreel, said his country, which currently has a Security Council seat, had requested the meeting “because of the seriousness of the report and because we think it’s too long to wait until March.”
Critics of the Palestinian Authority have accused President Mahmoud Abbas of letting his people down by agreeing to the postponement.(Reuters)
