General Assembly president urges lasting solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft said Monday that a lasting solution to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be found amid the "incredible instability" across the region.

While addressing a meeting of the committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, Lykketoft said their rights to self-determination without external interference, to national independence and sovereignty, and to return to their homes from which they were displaced remain unfulfilled.

The United Nations is going to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Nov. 29.

"This year's Solidarity Day, however, is taking place during a recent escalation in violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank," said Lykketoft. "I therefore call to all involved to bring an end to the violence and for strict compliance with international law."

In 1977, the UN General Assembly called for the annual observance of Nov. 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On that day in 1947, the assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine.

The observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People also encouraged UN member states to continue to give the widest support and publicity to the observance of the Day of Solidarity. Endit