UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday urged Israel to reconsider a security cabinet decision in principal to expel Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
"The forcible transfer of President Arafat is dangerous and counter productive in a situation of tension and instability in the region," said a spokesman at U.N. headquarters in New York for the secretary-general who is visiting Geneva.
"The secretary-general notes that the trend of developments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent weeks has been increasingly grim," said the spokesman, Fred Eckhard. "He urges both sides to live up to their responsibilities under the Quartet's Road Map and to exercise the utmost restraint and statesmanship."
The Israeli security cabinet made the expulsion decision Thursday evening, touching off Palestinian protests.
