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Security Council demands 'immediate cessation' of Middle East violence

Security Council demands 'immediate cessation' of Middle East violence

Amb. Lavrov briefs reporters
Voicing "serious concern" at the upsurge of Israeli-Palestinian violence, members of the United Nations Security Council today demanded "an immediate cessation to all acts of violence, including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction."

In a press statement issued by the Council President for June, Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov, the 15-member body supported the Road Map peace plan drawn up by the diplomatic Quartet - UN, United States, European Union and Russia - calling for the Israelis and Palestinians to take a series of parallel and reciprocal steps culminating in two states living side by side in peace and security by 2005.

The Council members, who earlier heard a briefing on the Middle East from Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast, said they were looking forward to the meeting in Amman, Jordan, on 22 June of the Quartet, which Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to attend.

"They called on the parties to fulfil their obligations in order to achieve the vision of two democratic states" and reaffirmed the importance of achieving a "comprehensive, just and lasting peace," including the Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Lebanese tracks, the statement said.