December 2, 2001	Sunday	Ramazan 16, 1422

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 1: Pakistan on Friday called on the international community to restrain Israel from using excessive and indiscriminate force against the unarmed innocent Palestinians which has gravely undermined the Oslo process.

Addressing the General Assembly, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Shamshad Ahmad said: “We share the deep concern of the international community over Israel’s policy of the use of excessive force, indiscriminate attacks against unarmed Palestinian civilians, and targeted assassinations of Palestinian leaders and activists.”

“Israeli incursions into territories controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, the unwarranted seizure of Orient House and Palestinian offices in Jerusalem last August and the unabated violence committed by Israeli security forces in key Palestinian cities, have gravely undermined the Oslo Peace Process.”

Ahmad said: “Those who have the power and the responsibility to maintain international peace and enforce international law must now act to complete the unfinished agenda of the previous century. Let those who remain deprived of freedom and inalienable rights, enjoy them. Let those who have long cherished the desire for freedom, taste it. Let those who are still denied their right of self-determination, whether in Palestine or in Kashmir, be finally given the opportunity to realize it.”

He said the situation in Palestine “warrants urgent remedial actions, necessitating, immediate steps by the international community, the first of which must be to address the problem of security of the Palestinian people. This is indispensable for halting the unending cycle of violence.