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NAM summit calls for unconditional negotiations on Iranian nuclear issue
AFP/Adalberto Roque
Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Perez Roque delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the high officers' meeting in the framework of the XIV Non-Aligned Movement summit in Havana.By Patrick Moser
AFP
HAVANA
Petroleumworld.com 09 13 06
Representatives from more than 100 developing nations meeting in Havana called Tuesday for unconditional negotiations to resolve the tense standoff over Iran's nuclear program.
Delegates at the six-day Non Aligned Summit (NAM) also lashed out at Israel, but dropped a proposed demand it be punished for "war crimes."
While the Middle East was high on the agenda, with the expected arrival of the Syrian and Lebanese presidents, the gathering was also the scene of rival lobbying by Venezuela and Guatemala for a seat on the UN Security Council. Caracas claimed it had locked in the voted to get a seat.
As senior officials met for a second day, it was still unclear whether Cuban President Fidel Castro, 80, would show up in the summit in what would be his first public appearance since he underwent intestinal surgery in July.
The officials hammered out separate resolutions on Iran and the Palestinian territories, while also fine-tuning a draft final document the heads of state and government are to adopt on Saturday.
Issues such as terrorism, Iran and the Middle East were hotly debated at the closed-door meetings, participants said.
The 118-strong NAM includes staunch foes of the United States, such as North Korea, Iran, Syria and Venezuela, but also many of its close allies.
On Iran, the officials essentially updated a resolution adopted by a NAM meeting in May, but added a paragraph stating the need for an "unconditional resumption of dialogue," the head of a prominent delegation said, speaking privately.
The statement adopted at the May gathering in Putrajaya, Malaysia insisted any country had the right to use nuclear energy, and welcomed what it said was Iran's "voluntary confidence-building efforts" aimed at resolving the issue.
The delegates also worked on a document demanding that Israel withdraw from the West Bank, stop its "aggression" in Gaza, and release jailed Palestinian officials.
"When that happens it will open the door for the resumption of the political process," said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations.
But a senior official said the delegates dropped a proposed paragraph that called the Israeli actions "war crimes for which the perpetrators must be held accountable and brought the justice."
Mansour said statements by the NAM would add to the pressure on the Security Council to implement its resolutions on the Palestinian territories.
"We hope the Security Council will begin the process of standing up to its responsibility," he told AFP.
Several delegations also engaged in intense lobbying to garner support for specific issues.
Venezuela insisted it now had secured enough votes to win a seat on the UN Security Council.
"We can assure the world that Venezuela will have a position on the Security Council as a non-permanent member," the Venezuelan vice foreign minister, Jorge Valero, told journalists.
Guatemalan officials for their part said they had secured 102 of the 121 votes needed.
The six-day gathering brings together leaders from about 50 developing nations, and high-level representatives from dozens more.
The leaders will meet on Friday and Saturday following two days of talks at the ministerial level.
Castro has said he would meet some of the dignitaries, but it was unclear whether he would do so from his bedside or at the summit.
The communist leader was included in an agenda of public events released by summit organizers on Sunday, but Cuban authorities later backtracked and admitted they had no clue whether he would actually show up in public.
The lower-profile Raul Castro, 75, would make his international-stage debut if he presides over top-level public summit proceedings. The younger Castro is officially Cuba's acting president while his brother recovers from surgery.
AFP 12 2128 GMT 09 06
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