Islamic nations lobbying Palestinians to go to ICC
UNITED NATIONS - The world's largest bloc of Islamic countries has been lobbying the Palestinians to join the International Criminal Court so it can prosecute Israeli political and military leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the bloc's leader said Saturday.
Iyad Madani said in an interview with The Associated Press that the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation strongly supports Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' plan to ask the UN Security Council to impose a deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian lands.
The thrust now should be "to bring the Israelis to the peace camp" with the United States as a moderator, "not a party to the conflict," he said. The United States, Israel's most important ally, has to choose, because "you are either a moderator or a party to the conflict," he said.
