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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Intensive talks for UN deal on Gaza truce call |
| 2009-01-09 |
| Intensive talks were underway here Thursday to reconcile two rival Security Council resolutions proposed by Western and Arab foreign ministers seeking an immediate Gaza ceasefire. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, in agreement with his U.S. counterpart Condoleezza Rice and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, presented a new draft to Arab colleagues Thursday. "Our hope is that it is a text that can get consensus," a Western diplomat said, asking to remain anonymous. But Arab ministers earlier submitted their own revised draft resolution demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and indicated they were determined to push for a Security Council vote Thursday. After several rounds of bargaining over the two texts by the two sides, Rice told reporters: "We are making some progress. We're still working." But the U.S. delegation signaled earlier this week that it would oppose adoption by the council of the Arab draft, saying it would prefer approval by consensus of a non-binding statement merely stressing the need for "an immediate and durable ceasefire." |
| Posted by:Fred |