Cuba, chairman of the group of nonaligned nations, requested here today the convening of a special emergency session of the UN General Assembly to discuss the situation in Lebanon, diplomats said here.
According to the diplomats, the emergency session will open tomorrow afternoon and will last at least three days. The emergency session is a resumption of the emergency session on the Palestinian problem which was held in July 1980, and suspended without conclusion. It was resumed again last April.
The Arabs and their allies considered the convening of an emergency special session after the U.S. vetoed two weeks ago in the Security Council a resolution that condemned the Israeli invasion and demanded an immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Lebanon. They discarded the idea then fearing that an emergency session could result in the expulsion of Israel — an action that the U.S. is likely to oppose with sanctions against the UN.
Diplomats said today that the Arabs are sure to receive an overwhelming vote for any anti-Israeli resolution they will present.
Meanwhile, it was learned here that President Francois Mitterrand has called for an emergency session of the Security Council to discuss the Lebanese crisis. He reportedly wants west Beirut put under the control of UN observers.
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