The international community needs to strengthen its role in the Middle East peace process, said officials with the United Nations at the UN Meeting for Asia and the Pacific on the question of Palestine in Beijing on Tuesday.  

Kim Hak-Su, executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and representative of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, said at the opening session that this meeting was a manifestation of the international community's continuing commitment to the search for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

He said the conflict in the last three years had led to deadly violence on both sides, with a total death toll approaching 4,000.

The conflict will not be resolved militarily, he said, adding that only through a political process can there be a solution in a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement based on the two sides living side-by-side in peace.

He welcomed the UN Security Council's unanimous endorsement of the Road Map in its resolution 1515. "It paved the way for a more vigorous involvement of the international community in helping the parties to implement their respective Road Map obligations", he added.

He said he will continue to work with all concerned for achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement to the question of Palestine, based on related UN Security Council resolutions and the principle of land for peace.

He urged the government of Israel and the Palestinian authority to speed up efforts to restart negotiations. "It is critical for both sides at this stage to take good-faith, confidence-building steps, so as not to impair future negotiations," he said.

Concerning the Geneva Initiative, launched on Dec. 1, he said the efforts by civil society demonstrated that the aspiration for peace was evident in the Palestinian and Israeli peoples.

This civil dialogue proves that it is possible to find imaginative solutions to thorny issues, and offers a detailed plan to resolve the conflict in a comprehensive manner, he said.

Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, head of the delegation of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, also called for encouragement of the civil society initiatives.

He said the voice of civil society provided alternative solutions to the Middle East peace process, and the two sides need to consider these civil voices and restart official negotiation for resolving the conflict.

He reiterated the commission's long-held position that the United Nations should continue to play a positive role in resolving the question of Palestine.

The meeting was scheduled to open from Dec. 16 to 18 in Beijing. The commission, with 24 member countries, was established in accordance with the related resolutions of the UN General Assembly.

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2003)