November 27, 2008	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 28, 1429

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 26: Pakistan has reiterated its call for implementation of relevant UN resolutions to pave the way for a sovereign state of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital.

“We remain steadfast in extending our full support for the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to exercise self-determination and sovereignty in their independent and viable state of Palestine, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders,” said Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, the Pakistani delegate to the General Assembly in a debate on the Palestinian question.

Referring to the grave situation in Gaza, he urged Israel to seriously reconsider its policies and actions, which were endangering the lives of the besieged Palestinian people and also the peace process — actions which in turn did not serve Israel’s own security concerns.

Mr Ahmad said it was regrettable that as the end of the year approached, the prospects for a peace treaty envisaged by the Annapolis conference had disappeared. But even more regrettable, and of grave concern, was the serious deterioration of the conditions in the occupied territory.

While the international community had expected that the post-Annapolis period would be used to undertake immediate and credible confidence-building steps aimed at improving the overall environment conducive for the success of the negotiations, the opposite had in fact occurred, he noted.