The Palestinians and Israelis quarreled in a Security Council meeting over the Palestinian demand for a UN observer force, said reports.
Accusing Israel of escalating its blood-letting military campaign, the Palestinian UN envoy, Nasser Al-Kidwa, urged the council Thursday to approve an observer force to help the two sides stop the current tragedy and as a prelude to breathing new life into the peace process, reported The Associated Press.
Israel's UN Ambassador, Yehuda Lancry, countered that the Palestinians are encouraging the violence for political gain and warned that an international force instead of calming tensions could escalate violence and create long-term instability in the region.
The council's open debate followed private meetings Wednesday with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Al-Kidwa on the Palestinian request for the council to reconsider a UN force to help protect Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The council defeated a resolution to authorize a force in December after an intense US campaign.
Acting US ambassador, James Cunningham, told the council Thursday that the US remains firmly committed to ensuring that the council does not adopt any resolution that is not supported by both the Palestinians and the Israelis.
In another development, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat left Rabat for Cairo Friday afternoon after holding talks with Moroccan King Mohammed VI on the situation in the Middle East, a diplomatic source told AFP.
Morocco was the third leg of Arafat's tour of Arab states, having already visited Libya and Tunisia earlier in the week.
On his arrival here Thursday night, Arafat said he had come to brief King Mohammed on the latest developments in the Middle East ahead of a summit of Arab leaders in Amman on March 27 and 28.
The monarch is president both of the Committee of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), and of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
During his talks with the leaders, Arafat, according to his aides, is also appealing for Arab support for the Palestinian uprising against Israel which has cost at least 438 lives since it began late September.
The Palestinian leader kicked off his tour on Wednesday in Sirte, Libya, where he held talks with Libyan leader Moammer Kadhafi, said the agency.
He then held talks in Tunis on Thursday with Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali – Albawaba.com
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