Arab and nonaligned delegates met here today to discuss the convening of a special emergency session of the UN General Assembly on the continued hostilities in Lebanon, sources here said today. According to the sources no decision has been reached during today’s meeting.
This is the second time in the last two weeks that the Arabs and their allies were considering the possibility of an emergency special session to deal with the situation in Lebanon. The first time was after the United States vetoed two weeks ago in the Security Council a resolution that condemned the Israeli invasion and demanded an immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Lebanon.
But the Arabs were reportedly divided then on the effect of an emergency session in resolving the Lebanese crisis. The moderate Arabs also feared that an emergency session could result in the expulsion of Israel from the UN, a situation that would only complicate matters and might even result in severe sanctions by the U.S. against the UN.
In order to convene an emergency session the Arabs need the endorsement of at least two-thirds of the entire UN membership, which, in the view of diplomats here, the Arabs can count on.
Meanwhile, in another development regarding the Lebanese situation, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UN RWA), estimated today that about 60,000 refugees are camping in areas around the city of Sidon, including some 25,000 registered Palestinian refugees.
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