UN council to discuss possible Gaza session

The president of the UN Security Council said members will meet today to discuss Libya's request for an emergency session on a report that claimed Israel and Palestinian militant groups committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the conflict in Gaza that began late last year.

Vietnam's ambassador Le Luong Minh, who holds the council presidency this month, told The Associated Press he set closed-door talks after receiving a request from Libya, the only Arab member on the 15-nation council.

The Palestinian UN Mission issued a press release saying it affirmed "full support for the Libyan request" for an emergency meeting on the Dec 27-Jan 18 conflict in Gaza written by legal experts chaired by eminent South African jurist Richard Goldstone.

The Libyan move and Palestinian support surprised some council members because less than a week ago on Oct 1 the UN Human Rights Council, which commissioned the report, delayed a vote on a resolution to refer the report to the UN General Assembly at the Palestinians request. The vote would move the issue one step closer to possible prosecutions, but it was delayed at least until March.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, under intense pressure from the militant group Hamas which controls Gaza for agreeing to suspend efforts to go after Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza, appears to have agreed to try to put the Goldstone report on the Security Council agenda.