Summary
De Soto claimed the tipping point for his resignation was when, on his visit to the region on March 25, Ban introduced Out the blue', conditions for whether he would meet the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in future, thus sabotaging UN efforts to lead the rival Palestinian organisations Hamas and Fatah towards a solution. The Palestinian mission secured restatement and expansion of those UN positions, for example with a meeting of states which are party to the Geneva Conventions on Occupied Territories to rebut the Israeli position that these were 'disputed' territories to which the Conventions did not apply, and most importantly, securing an advisory judgment from the International Court of Justice on the illegality of the separation wall in the West Bank.
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Extract
Heavy Burden
ALVARO DE SOTO, THE UNITED NATION'S special representative for the Middle East Peace Process, resigned from his post and the organisation in May, for reasons he explained in his subsequently leaked end of mission report.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon's spokeswoman refused to comment on the contents since, she said, it was confidential and represented de Soto's personal views. That left unanswered the critical questions that the incisive, evenhanded and remarkably readable document raised about the role...See the full content of this document
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