UNITED NATIONS, Sept 15: Palestinians and the Muslim states have asked the United Nations to ensure safety of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat following threats by Israeli government officials to kill or exile him.

The UN Security Council will hold an open meeting of the Council on the situation in the Middle East following worldwide condemnation of Israel’s cabinet decision to remove Yasser Arafat from his compound in Ramallah.

Besides the Sunday statement by Israel’s Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that killing Arafat is a possibility was certain to intensify the Palestinian demand for speedy UN action.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday warned Israel that killing or exiling Mr Arafat will provoke outrage in the Muslim world.

The Security Council began consultations on a resolution drafted by the Palestinians late on Friday and then adjourned until Monday, despite Palestinian pressure for a quick vote.

The Palestinian draft “demands that Israel, the occupying power, desist from any act of deportation and to cease any threat to the safety of the elected president of the Palestinian Authority.”

It calls for the cessation of violence — including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction — and increased efforts by both sides to ensure implementation of the road map.

Council ambassadors said they wanted to consult capitals and wait for the outcome of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s meeting in Geneva on Saturday with the foreign ministers of the five permanent council nations — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

Meanwhile, the council issued a press statement expressing “the view that the removal of chairman Arafat would be unhelpful and should not be implemented.”