UN delay on Gaza report condemned

Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have condemned the decision by the UN to defer voting on the Goldstone report, that highlighted war crimes by Israel and Hamas during the formers' offensive on the territory in December.

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Bassem Khuri, the Palestinian economy minister, resigned on Saturday, reportedly in protest at the Palestinian Authority's (PA) agreement not to discuss the document.

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Earlier on Sunday, Mohammed Dahlan, a member of Fatah's central council, asked the PLO Executive Committee for an official probe into the reasons for the delay in the vote.

"We call on the Palestine Liberation Organisation to form an investigation committee into the causes of asking for a postponement to reach the truth about the situation and it is important to listen to Ambassador Khreisheh because this is not related to the ambassador but rather to policies," Dahlan said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/2009104101950899415.html

taking on the best friend they have on the international scene

CAIRO — The Palestinian Authority faced a backlash at home and a split among Arab ranks on Sunday after it backed a UN decision to delay a vote on a report accusing Israel of war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

The Western-backed PA is under fire for giving in to what critics said was US and Israeli pressure to defer a vote by the UN Human Rights Council on the report by the former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.

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Washington welcomed the delay, while also calling for "credible" investigation into war crimes allegations, and Israel warned that the report was a threat to a resumption of stalled peace efforts with the Palestinians.

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Abbas reacted to the criticism by forming a committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the delay, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted a senior Palestinian official as saying.

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