Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was on Tuesday "seriously studying" the possibility of asking that the Goldstone report be passed on to the Security Council, a senior official said.

"President Abbas is seriously studying the possibility of asking the Arab and Islamic bloc to officially take the Goldstone report to international bodies, including the UN General Assembly and the Security Council," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP in a phone call from Amman.

Major Turnaround
This revelation marks a major turnaround for the Palestinian Authority, which agreed on Friday to defer a vote in the United Nations Human Rights Council on a resolution that would have condemned Israel's failure to cooperate with the UN war crimes investigation led by Richard Goldstone. The resolution would also have resulted in his report being forwarded to the Security Council.

Abbas has faced criticism from Hamas, the Islamist group which runs the Gaza Strip, as well as from commentators in his own backyard of the West Bank and from within Abbas's own Fatah party.

Commission of Inquiry
However, Abbas has denied the allegation that he issued the instruction to the diplomatic delegation at the human rights council that allowed for the deferral of the vote. He has apparently made the decision to establish a commission of inquiry into what led the PA to request the deferral. According to Haaretz, the decision was made during a telephone call between Abbas and Yasser Abed Rabbo, who serves as secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee.
 

US Pressure
A diplomatic source said the move had followed intense lobbying by the United States, which is seeking to restart peace negotiations in the Middle East. "There is agreement to defer given immense pressure from the United States," he told Reuters.

Human Rights Watch claims that the US and the other countries blocking action at the council now have an obligation to push Israel and Hamas in the carrying out of credible investigations.
 

Source: AFA