Damascus shuns Abbas over Goldstone's Gaza report delay

Damascus- Syrian officials have postponed a scheduled visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in apparent protest at his backing of a delay on a vote endorsing the UN war crimes report into the conflict in Gaza, local media reported Monday. The report, by Justice Richard Goldstone, criticized both Israel and the Palestinians for the war in January 2008. Last week the Palestinian delegation to the UN Human Rights Council dropped its support for an immediate vote on the report.

"The Syrian leadership decided to cancel the visit by the head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) which was scheduled tonight in respect of the blood of the martyrs of Gaza which Israel raided for 23 days," al-Watan semi-official newspaper quoted an unnamed diplomatic source as saying.

Last Friday, the Geneva-based body had been expected to vote on a draft resolution that would have condemned Israel for not cooperating with the fact finding mission.

The resolution would have also endorsed Goldstone's call for the UN General Assembly or Security Council to follow up on the investigations into alleged violations.

The report accused both Hamas and Israel of committing war crimes in the three-week conflict in the Gaza Strip that began in late December.

Following the decision, the PA came under fire from Hamas and Palestinian human rights groups who accused it of blocking the resolution after heeding pressure from the United States and Israel.

The Palestinian Authority denies that was the reason behind the decision.