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UNITED NATIONS: Western and Arab foreign ministers plan to resume bargaining Thursday to try to reach a compromise on a UN Security Council text for a truce in the strife-torn Gaza Strip, diplomats said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, her British counterpart David Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner met throughout the day with their Arab colleagues but failed to reconcile two competing texts.
A Western diplomat said the ministers decided to extend their visit and would resume their discussions at 10:00 am (1500 GMT) Thursday.
"We believe there's still work to do. We are extending our stay," Rice told reporters late Wednesday following closed-door talks with her Arab counterparts on the sidelines of a Security Council debate on the 12-day-old Israeli offensive in Gaza.
With Gaza medics reporting more than 700 Palestinians killed, Libya - the lone Arab member of the council - insisted on an early vote on a draft resolution "that demands an immediate end" to the Israeli offensive launched to stop rocket fire by Palestinian militants.
But a rival non-binding statement circulated by France, the council chair this month, would merely stress "the urgent need for an immediate and durable ceasefire" and would welcome the truce initiative unveiled by Egypt Tuesday.
For such a statement to be approved it must have the support of all 15 council members.
Tuesday after talks with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak presented a three-point proposal for ending Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza.
The Mubarak plan included an "immediate ceasefire for a specific period" to allow humanitarian aid to pass; an invitation to Israel and the Palestinians to come to Egypt for talks on securing Gaza borders, reopening of its crossings and lifting an Israeli blockade.
"The world needs to hear the united voice of the Security Council," Miliband told reporters late Wednesday.
Rice, Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner have been pursuing intense negotiations here over the past 48 hours to find a compromise acceptable to all sides.
But Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Arab foreign ministers came to New York to get the Security Council to "take immediate action to end the hostilities in Gaza."
Arab ministers want a vote on the Libyan draft, which requires nine votes and no veto from the council's five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - for passage.
A diplomat said the Arab ministers did not want to return home empty-handed and face the wrath of their public opinion, which has been outraged by the high Palestinian death toll in Gaza.
"What we are looking is for Israel to announce its acceptance of the Egyptian initiative and to announce that based on this initiative (they) are ceasing fire for a limited period of time," Egypt's UN envoy Maged Abdelaziz told reporters here.
"As long as Israel (does) not announce its acceptance of the Egyptian initiative or a ceasefire, then the Arab group finds no way that this is going to take place except by pushing this draft resolution to the vote," he added.
"So it is in the hands of the Council. It is in the hands of the parties, Israel particularly."
The French statement would stress "the urgent need for an immediate and durable ceasefire" which would "require arrangements and guarantees, including the securing of the border to prevent illegal trade and the reopening of crossing points."
It would also call for "immediate and full humanitarian access including unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance” and demand that "the Palestinian and Israeli populations be protected.
The Libyan draft "demands an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip with a cessation of all military activities and violence, including Israeli military operations and the firing of rockets, and the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces to positions held prior to December 27, 2008.
It also calls for the immediate lifting of the 18-month Israeli blockade on Gaza and for the reopening of Gaza's border crossings with Israel and Egypt.
And it seeks the "establishment and deployment of an international observer force to monitor implementation of the ceasefire, to ensure protection and safety of the Palestinian civilian population."
- AFP/yb
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