UN discussing registry of complaints against fence

Proposal that special UN body be established to track Palestinian complaints of property damage caused by security barrier likely to pass.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
A two-year-old recommendation by the International Court of Justice that the United Nations establish a special body to register Palestinian complaints about Israel's security barrier was under discussion Friday afternoon in the General Assembly. According to Army Radio, the proposal to establish a registry of damages was expected to pass by a large majority. UN spokesman Christopher Gunness told The Jerusalem Post on Friday night that until the member states voted, the UN would refrain from commenting on the proposal. Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman, meanwhile, declared the establishment of a registry of complaints to be "a waste of the UN's and its member nations' time and money." The UN began consideration of the International Court of Justice report during Kofi Annan's recently ended term as secretary-general. Annan said during a visit to Ramallah in March 2005 that the UN was, in fact, establishing a register of property damage caused by the security fence. Annan said at the time that the UN position on the barrier was and reflected an anti-barrier resolution previously passed by the General Assembly. Greer Fay Cashman contributed to this report.