Arab countries took steps Tuesday to demand the UN Commission for Human Rights hold a special session on Israeli violence in the Palestinian territories.
Arab League ambassadors met Tuesday morning and agreed to draft a letter to the commission's president, Shambu Shimkada, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.
The ambassadors also met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Tuesday morning.
The group, led by Algeria, asked Annan in his role as the "moral conscience" of nations if he could heighten the awareness of the international community so that it would strongly condemn "the cruel and inhuman treatment" perpetrated by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories.
Despite hopes of a ceasefire declared overnight, a young Palestinian was shot dead in the Gaza Strip Tuesday bringing to 57 the total lives claimed in clashes since Friday. All but three were Palestinians or Arab Israelis.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are due to meet in Paris Wednesday, according to a statement issued by Barak's office Tuesday - GENEVA (AFP)
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