United Nations: Israel has failed to comply with the UN General Assembly resolution asking it to halt construction of security barrier which runs deep into the Palestinian areas in some places and thus violates the international law, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said.

The resolution was adopted by the 191-member Assembly by an overwhelming majority with 144 members voting for it and only four, including the US and Israel, opposing. But the Assembly resolutions, unlike those of the Security Council, are not binding or enforceable and have only moral force.

The report, released yesterday (Nov 28), sets the stage for Arabs to call an emergency session of the 191-member Assembly next week and asks it to seek the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legality of the barrier, a course opposed by the US and several European nations who argue that it would politicise the peace process and make reaching an agreement difficult.

"I have concluded that Israel is not in compliance with the Assembly's demand that it 'stop' and reverse the construction of wall in the occupied Palestinian territory," Annan said in the report submitted in terms of the Assembly resolution adopted on October 21 at the urging of the Arabs.

PTI