UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
has called on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to halt his attack on the Palestinian leadership, saying "destroying the Palestinian Authority will not bring peace; it will bring the region even closer to war," a spokesman said.
Mr Annan also called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to accept a US ceasefire proposal and for both leaders to "exercise responsible leadership at this time," according to a statement.
"The way out of this escalating and vicious cycle of reprisals and counter-violence is for both parties to move ahead as speedily as possible, via the Mitchell recommendations, to achieve the two-state vision expressed in (UN) Security Council resolution 1397 of 12 March 2002."
Mr Annan was expected to address a special closed-door session of the Security Council, which began a short time ago, on the situation in the Middle East, council spokesman Kjetil Stormark said.
AFP