Russia Calls for Security Council Mission to Middle East, Including Lebanon
Russia on Tuesday called for the U.N. Security Council to carry out a mission to the Middle East, including Lebanon and Egypt.
The Security Council has not visited the troubled region for more than three decades. Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin said council envoys should go to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.
"We are making this proposal now because we are concerned about the situation in the Middle East," Churkin told reporters.
"As we all know, the efforts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian talks are at an impasse and the situation in the region is quite fragile. It is fraught with further possible complications."
He said a Security Council mission "could stabilize the situation in a certain way and could help the international efforts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations."
Churkin said there has been no Security Council mission to the Middle East since 1979. "We think that this is not right, that for so many years the Security Council members as a body have not been to the Middle East."
Russia is one of the five permanent members of the 15-nation council along with Britain, China, France and the United States.
There was no immediate public reaction from other members. One council diplomat said though that a visit would be "difficult" to arrange. "There are many sensitivities involved," said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another diplomat said council members would refer the proposal to their national governments for a final decision.
Churkin also acknowledged that it was a "complex proposition.”
The Russian ambassador said council envoys were discussing details but there have been "no point blank objections."
Source: Agence France Presse
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