Friday, July 7 2006 12:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: Arab nations have asked the UN Security Council to order an immediate halt to Israeli aggression in Gaza, the withdrawal of its forces and release of arrested Palestinian officials.

The resolution, introduced yesterday in the 15-member council, calls on Israel to 'scrupulously abide' by its obligations under the Geneva Convention and expresses 'grave concern' over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The US and France immediately expressed reservations on the draft resolution moved by Qatar on behalf of the Arab group, arguing that it was 'imbalanced' as it did not mention Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.

While French diplomats said they would propose changes, US ambassador John Bolton apparently had a problem with every sentence in the resolution.

In early negotiations, Arabs were adamant against mentioning Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and that raised the possibility of the US casting a veto if it was brought to vote.

But Palestine's observer Riyad Mansour promised to show flexibility to make the resolution as balanced as possible.

"The Palestinians wanted the Council to send a signal to Israel and perhaps to both parties" that negotiations were a better option than military action," he said.

"For purpose of saving the life of one, you are killing so many. That does not make sense," Mansour said referring to the present military action, which is aimed at securing the release of a kidnapped soldier.

Washington has earlier vetoed the resolutions, which it considered one-sided as they singled out Israel for the attack.