Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations Mootaz Ahmadein Khalil held a meeting with the UN deputy secretary-general as part of a high-level Arab delegation to discuss Israeli violations against Christians and Muslims and the Palestinian peace effort, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
Ahmadein Khalil is accompanied by ambassadors from Libya, Lebanon and Palestine. He met UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Kenneth Eliasson to deliver “an urgent message to the secretary-general”, urging the UN and its members to “shoulder their share of the responsibility to stop Israeli violations in Jerusalem”.
Egypt’s representative called on the secretary-general to act to stop Israeli incursions against non-Jewish people in Jerusalem, such as the attack on Al-Aqsa mosque and Christian places of worship, the arrest of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the prevention of Christians from attending mass by security forces.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is said to be urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop these violations as a result of Ahmadein Khalil’s efforts, the foreign ministry’s statement said.
Ahmadein Khalil also asked the representative of Togo, currently the president of the UN Security Council, to bring the Israeli violations to the fore of the next council meeting, scheduled to start next week in New York. He pointed out that the Arab delegation has the same goal as that of the president of the UN General Assembly, who had promised to exert all efforts to stop Israeli aggression on the spot.
“Egypt is closely following the developments in Jerusalem and the occupied Arab territories,” Ahmadein Khalil said, adding that its delegation at the UN is working with the Arab bloc in New York to devise “further actions” if Israeli aggression escalates.
