Prosor urges Ban to intervene on Schalit’s behalf

NEW YORK – New Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor presented his credentials to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday, and congratulated him on behalf of Israel on his reelection to a second term.In a private meeting with Ban, Prosor underscored that St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit has been held in captivity for five years, with no access to the Red Cross, in violation of his basic human rights.Prosor asked Ban to personally intervene in supporting efforts to release Schalit.Ban issued a statement in advance of this weekend’s fifth anniversary of Schalit’s capture, calling on Hamas to protect Schalit’s life, treat him humanely, prove that he is alive and allow the Schalits to have contact with their son. Ban also called on Hamas to comply with international humanitarian law.“The United Nations on the ground will continue to support the conclusion of negotiation efforts to secure his release, which would also entail the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners,” the statement added.Prosor’s meeting followed last Tuesday’s unanimous General Assembly reelection of Ban as secretary-general. He ran for the post unopposed.Other elections last week included Qatari Ambassador to the UN Nassir Abdulaziz Nasser, who will become president of the General Assembly for a year when Swiss Ambassador Joseph Deiss’s term ends in September.Nasser has been Qatar’s permanent representative to the UN in New York since September 1998.Prosor, representing the Western European and Other States, congratulated the Qatari leader on his election.Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Mohammad Khazaie, was also among those elected this week as deputy vice president of the next session of the General Assembly. The vice presidents for the 66th session will be the ambassadors from Benin, Chad, Liberia, Malawi and Morocco from the African States; Fiji, Iran, Kuwait and the Republic of Korea from the Asian States; Hungary from the Eastern European States; Bolivia, Haiti and Uruguay from the Latin American and Caribbean States; and Australia and Austria from the Western European and Other States.The five permanent members of the Security Council – China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the US – will also serve as vice presidents.