Vijay Nambiar holds discussions with Arab leaders

New Delhi, July 16 (UNI) The three-member UN team, led by India's Vijay Nambiar, who was recently appointed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Political Advisor, held discussions with key Arab countries in Cairo on defusing the current crisis in West Asia, diplomatic sources said here today.

Mr Nambiar and UN senior officials Alvaro de Soto and Terje Roed-Larsen, had meetings on the fringes of the Arab League meeting with Oman, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and a representative of the Office of the Palestinian President.

The discussions focused on the escalating hostilities in West Asia--specifically Lebanon, Gaza and Israel, according to the sources.

The delegation carried with it Mr. Annan's ''urgent message'' on the need to defuse the present crisis and the obvious need for restraint from all parties, the sources said, adding that on Gaza, Lebanon and Israel, they stressed the urgent need to protect civilian life and infrastructure.

On Gaza, the team raised its extreme concerns about the deepening humanitarian and security crisis, according to the sources. It called for the release of the captured Israeli soldier and an end to the firing of rockets into Israel.

The UN sources said that on Lebanon, there is a growing consensus on the need for protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure as well as realising all applicable Security Council resolutions--the basis for de-escalation, as far as all parties are concerned--and addressing the issue of abductees and related questions, which is a prerequisite for de-escalation.

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