Security Council considers settlements in occupied territories.

SR had requested

SI21139) that the Council

convene to consider what it

called "unlawful Israeli moves to settle the occupied territories". It said the Israeli actions ran counter to the fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949 and obstructed Middle East peace efforts.

Council President Abdalla Saleh Al-Ashtal of the Democratic Yemen said that the matter would be considered further by the Council at a later date. No draft resolution had been tabled by the end of March.

Aleksandr Belonogov of the USSR, who brought the issue to the Council, in debate pointed out that the Security Council had previously called on Israel to halt establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the territories occupied since 1967.

The evolution of the situation in the Middle East had recently been viewed with some hope. Unfortunately the settlement of immigrants in the occupied territories was a new and serious obstacle to peace in the region. Certain circles in Israel were deliberately creating such obstacles, the USSR said. Johanan Bein of Israel commended the determination of the USSR to grant freedom of movement to its citizens. At the same time, "an ugly campaign" was being waged by Arab States to halt the immigration of jews to Israel altogether. It was implied that Israel intended to displace Palestinians with jewish immigrants, and that was "preposterous", he said.

There were no grounds for allegations that Israel, as a matter of policy, was directing jewish immigrants to the territories. More than 99 per cent of the immigrants had settled in Israel's main urban centres, Mr. Bein stated.

Far from displacing Palestinians, Israel had been the only party actively engaged in rehabilitating them. Since 1967, it had enabled, he said, "tens of thousands of Palestinians to return to judea, Samaria and Gaza under the family reunification plan" Since 1971, it had rehabilitated more than 150,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza in the face of strong opposition by the Arab States.

Farouq Qaddoumi, representing Palestine, said that Israel continued to usurp Palestinian land. Settlement and land expropriation remained its dominant policy. Since 1967, more than 200 settlements had been built on the West Bank and in Gaza. Millions of Palestinians remained homeless. The massive organized jewish emigration from the USSR to Palestine was "a continuation of the Zionist invasion" of the Palestinian lands, and Palestinians would continue to oppose it.

Abdullah Salah of jordan, on behalf of the Arab Group, said the history of jewish emigration to Palestine was closely linked to the Arab-Israell conflict, and its continuation was a major factor in the persistence of the conflict. It was not fair to allow jews from all parts of the world to settle in the occupied Arab territories for no reason other than that they were jewish, while the Palestinian refugees were denied their right to return to their land for no reason other than that they were Palestinians.

Li Luye of China called for an immediate halt to settlements in occupied territory, which constituted a gross violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention. Israel's expansionist policy not only threatened the existence of the Palestinian people and the security of Arab countries, it also aggravated an already tense situation in the Middle East. The actions of the Israeli authorities had erected new barriers to the Middle East peace process and ran completely counter to the prevailing tide on the world scene.

Pierre-Louis Blanc of France said his Government deplored Israel's illegal settlement policy in the occupied territories. While welcoming the new Soviet emigration policy, notably the freedom of Soviet jews desiring to do so to emigrate to Israel or elsewhere, the exercise of that right must not be to the detriment of the rights of Palestinians. Israel must not compromise peace prospects by allowing any new settlers in the occupied territories.

Thomas L. Richardson of the United Kingdom said that settling Soviet jewish immigrants in the occupied territories was not only illegal, it was also politically misguided, because it threatened the Middle East peace process. The prospect of those emigres settling in the occupied territories was an understandable source of concern to the Arab world, especially the Palestinians and the jordanians. He hoped that a coalition Israeli Government would emerge that was able and willing to contribute to the peace process "by entering into a dialogue with a credible and genuinely representative Palestinian delegation". Latin American forums call for Middle East peace conference

Participants in two Latin American special meetings on the question of Palestine, both held in Buenos Aires, have called for an early convening of an international peace conference on the Middle East.

The First UN Latin American and Caribbean Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Symposium on the Question of Palestine (5-8 February) and the Fourth Latin American and Caribbean Seminar on the Question of Palestine (5-9 February) meeting in joint sessions, heard addresses by eminent persons and panelists on various aspects of the Palestine question.

Discussions focused on the urgency of convening a Middle East peace conference, and the impact of intifadah the Palestinian uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on a settlement of the Middle East conflict; the role of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the social, cultural, economic and political development of the Palestinian people; and the mobilization of public opinion in the Latin American and Caribbean region for the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

Representatives of 25 NGOs at the Latin American Symposium in a 34point Declaration called for the immediate and total dismantling of the settlements established in occupied territories.

They also condemned what they termed repressive practices used by Israel against the Palestinians.