Arabs persist with UN Arafat resolution

By Greg Barrow BBC UN correspondent

Sudan has asked on behalf of the Arab League that the President of the United Nations General Assembly consider a resolution demanding that Israel drops its threat to expel the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

Arafat supporters have vowed to fight any attempt to remove him

Diplomats say the resolution being proposed for debate at the General Assembly - which represents all 191 UN member states - is similar to that which was scuppered by an American veto on the Security Council on Tuesday.

In a letter to the President of the General Assembly, Sudan asked the assembly to take up the issue because of what it called the inability of the Security Council to fulfil its responsibility to maintain international peace and security.

That request is now being considered.

DRAFT RESOLUTION: MAIN POINTS Demands complete cessation of violence Demands Israel stops threatening to deport Palestinian leader Expresses full support for implementation of roadmap Draft resolution: full text The veto and how to use it

In the past when similar resolutions have come before the General Assembly, they have been passed with a comfortable majority as every UN member state is allowed to vote and no single nation has the power of veto as is the case on the Security Council.

But although resolutions passed by the General Assembly tend to reflect global opinion, they are not legally binding in the same way as resolutions that are adopted by the Security Council.