Security Council hopes ‘restraint will prevail’ for upcoming Palestinian elections – President

The United Nations Security Council hopes “restraint will prevail” between the parties to the Middle East conflict so that Palestinian elections next Sunday can be conducted in a free, fair and inclusive manner, the President of the 15-member body for this month, Argentine Ambassador César Mayoral, said today.

Mr. Mayoral was speaking to a news conference after a Council meeting to review the month’s agenda and after Israeli forces and Palestinian militants clashed repeatedly over the past week.

Yesterday UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan renewed his call on both parties “to follow their obligations under international law and in particular to ensure the protection of the civilian population.”

The UN technical team helping to organize the elections was expecting to deploy more than 700 international observers on election day, according to a UN spokesperson.