<html>
<body>
<font size=3>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/200910694937206242.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/200910694937206242.html<br>
</a>Tuesday, October 06, 2009 <br>
15:29 Mecca time, 12:29 GMT <br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/">News </a>Middle East <br><br>
</font><font size=4><b>PA blamed for Goldstone vote delay <br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>The Palestinians missed a rare chance by delaying
a vote on the Goldstone report which accuses Israel of committing war
crimes in Gaza, a senior Qatari foreign ministry official has
said.<br><br>
Sheikh Khaled bin Jassem al-Thani, the ministry's human rights department
head, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the Palestinian representative to
the UN Human Rights Council had requested a delay until the next meeting
in March.<br><br>
"We won't be more royal than the king," he said.<br><br>
"The Palestinian decision was based on their wishes ... and
member states could not take unilateral measures contrary to the wishes
of the Palestinian Authority (PA)."<br><br>
"There were many countries that supported [the report and a
vote] ... it could have been adopted, but I think that an opportunity was
missed and it may not come back."<br><br>
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, under pressure from the PA's
executive council and the central committee of his Fatah party, has
launched an investigation into the delay.<br><br>
But there appears to be no respite for him from the barrage of criticism
from Palestinians.<br><br>
<b>Resignation urged<br><br>
</b>A senior member of Hamas has demanded that Abbas resign for
supporting the postponement of the vote.<br><br>
Mahmoud al-Zahar told Al Jazeera on Monday that Abbas was guilty of
"a very big crime against the Palestinian people" over the PA's
support to defer endorsing the report. <br><br>
"He is encouraging the Israeli military leaders to attack Gaza, to
kill Hamas, and to kill people because they voted for Hamas; to postpone
a very important report concerning the Israelis committing crimes against
human beings," al-Zahar said.<br><br>
"He should resign and he should seek a fair trial. He is not
representing any of the Palestinian people."<br><br>
The comments came as hundreds of people in the West Bank city of Ramallah
protested against the delay in the vote on the report by Richard
Goldstone, a former South African judge.<br><br>
Protesters waved placards at Monday's events, saying the delay
"insults the blood of the martyrs and wounds our
people".<br><br>
Protests were also held in Jerusalem, where pro-Palestinian activists
demanded an apology from Abbas.<br><br>
"If the government had anything to do with the decision we want it
to resign," Muhammad Jadallah, the head of the Coalition for
Jerusalem, said.<br><br>
Thirty-two Palestinian groups in Europe also called on Abbas to
immediately step down from office.<br><br>
In a statement, the groups said "the step to delay the endorsement
was not less dangerous than the atrocities committed by the Israeli
occupation in Gaza".<br><br>
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies <br><br>
<br><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>