FRANCE PUSHES FOR INT’L TROOPS ON AL QUDS
Paris, 5 Muharram 1437/18 October 2015 (MINA) – France is now pushing for the publication of a presidential statement on behalf of the UN Security Council that is calling for deployment of international observers to Al Quds’s holy sites, notably the Temple Mount, World Bulletin quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
François Delattre the French ambassador to the UN said that on Tuesday France has prepared a draft of a presidential statement regarding the need to maintain the Temple Mount status quo during a Security Council meet on the Jerusalem escalation.
The statement does not include a binding Security Council resolution, but serves as a statement of intent. 15 members of the UN Security Council need to consent in order for a presidential statement to be published. It remains unclear if France has managed to achieve such consensus.
On Friday, Israel’s new UN envoy Danny Danon, a former Likud minister opposes international troops on Temple Mount, says such move would violate decades-long status quo.
On Wednesday, Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour called on the Security Council to adopt a resolution guaranteeing the safety and protection of Palestinians and Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, similar to Resolution 904 adopted after the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in 1994, which saw international monitors deployed in Hebron.
The French move in the Security Council is the latest French move in recent months relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (T/P006/R03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
