Palestinian U-turn on Gaza report

[oberliner]

The UN Security Council is set to discuss whether to hold an emergency session on the Goldstone report on the conflict in Gaza nine months ago.

Libya, the only Arab state on the 15-member body, will request the session in a closed-door meeting.

Palestinian officials voiced their "full support" for the meeting - after leaders were excoriated for requesting a deferral of a UN debate last week.

Both Israel and Gaza militants are accused of war crimes in the report.

One senior Palestinian politician, Yasser Abed Rabbo, has said the leadership had erred by seeking the deferral of the debate at the Human Rights Council until next March.

"We must say a mistake has been made. This mistake should not be underestimated or concealed," he said in a radio interview.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8294880.stm

[bemildred]

1. Palestinians want urgent UN rights debate on Gaza

GENEVA — Palestinian diplomats in Geneva are pushing for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council to debate a report on alleged war crimes in Gaza earlier this year.

Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi says the move is prompted by violence this week in Jerusalem that he blamed on Israel and also wants discussed.

His comment appears to reflect a change in Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas' decision not to pursue war crimes charges against Israel over the Gaza fighting. Last week, he agreed to delay a debate on the U.N. report until March over concerns it could harm the Middle East peace process.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hj4Q2pdqZHVVfQcbXxokISeln93QD9B7NKSG0