IPU PRESIDENT CALLS FOR AN END TO VIOLENCE IN LEBANON AND OPENING OF A HUMANITARIAN CORRIDOR
Deeply concerned at the ever worsening situation in the Middle East, the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, appealed for an end of hostilities in Lebanon. He also called for the opening of a humanitarian corridor in order to bring relief to the civilian population, the main victim of the violence that is destroying the country, and the release of the detained members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and the Israeli soldiers.
The IPU President met with Mr. Saad Hariri, head of the parliamentary majority in Lebanon and son of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005. Mr. Casini said that the international community should at the very least take on the responsibility of opening a humanitarian corridor, as requested by the Lebanese Government.
The IPU President also expressed support for the conflict settlement plan proposed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, which includes the release of the Israeli soldiers, the holding of an international conference and the establishment of a stabilization force.
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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU, the oldest multilateral political organisation, currently brings together 146 affiliated parliaments and seven regional assemblies as associate members. The world organisation of parliaments has an Office in New York, which acts as its Permanent Observer at the United Nations.
The IPU also has a Committee on Middle East Questions, which has a mandate to foster direct contacts between the Arab and Israeli delegations and promote parliamentary action in support of the peace process. Established in 1987, the Committee meets during IPU statutory Assemblies and at special sessions to hear the Israeli and Palestinian parliamentary delegations. It is composed of 12 MPs from all over the world.
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Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer
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Mr. James Jennings, Secretary of the IPU Committee on Middle East Questions
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