GAZA CITY, July 28: The Palestinian leadership asked the UN Security Council on Sunday to pass a binding resolution ordering Israel to withdraw its troops to positions occupied before the outbreak of the intifada some 22 months ago.

“The Security Council must ... pass a binding resolution for a ceasefire, a withdrawal of Israeli forces to the lines of September 28, 2000 and send international observers” to the Palestinian territories, the leadership said in a statement released here after meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The meeting, chaired by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, called on the “international community to adopt a firmer and more effective position and to be totally involved in peace efforts.”

It said the observers should be under the control of the so-called diplomatic “quartet” of the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations, trying unblock the Middle East peace process.

The Palestinian leadership includes the Palestinian Authority cabinet and the executive of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The UN Security Council held talks Friday behind closed doors to discuss a resolution presented by Syria calling for an immediate end to violence in the Middle East, including military action and terrorism.

The discussions were postponed until Monday to allow delegates to consult with their governments, while the US representative said he would veto any resolution that did not contain a condemnation of terrorism and explicit condemnation of several Palestinian militant groups.

TEENAGER KILLED: A Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli army gunfire in a village near the West Bank town of Ramallah late Sunday, Palestinian security and hospital sources said.

The sources said Maamun al-Zaben, 18, was shot dead in the village of Mazraat al-Sharkiye and that another Palestinian was wounded.

An army unit entered the village, 10 kilometres northeast of Ramallah, in two jeeps and opened fire after coming under attack from stone-throwers, they said.—AFP