UN rights body flays Yassin killing; Israel orders Arafat expulsion

By: Nabil Raza

GENEVA: The top United Nations human rights body on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to condemn Israel for its assassination of Palestinian Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

Only the United States and Australia voted against the resolution sponsored by Pakistan and other Muslim countries. It was adopted by a vote of 31 to two with 18 abstentions including EU countries.

The resolution “strongly condemns the continuing grave violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in particular the tragic assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.”

The text also “notes with grave concern the implications of such targeted assassinations, liquidation and murder of political leadership by the Israeli occupation forces on the overall situation in Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the possibility of fresh wave of violence.”

Israel warned Wednesday that the credibility of the UN's top human rights body - the UN Human Rights Commission - was at stake over the resolution.

But Israel was largely isolated in the 53-nation assembly, which has a long track record of condemning its occupation of Palestinian territories and violations of human rights against Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom Wednesday called for Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to be expelled from his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah.

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