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Red Cross, Red Crescent agree to accept new icon

Delegates to an international conference have accepted a new Red Cross emblem, paving the way for Israel to join the humanitarian movement after nearly six decades of exclusion, officials said yesterday.

The 192 signatories to the 1949 Geneva Conventions approved the new diamond-shaped "red crystal" emblem by a rare vote after last-ditch negotiations between Israel and Syria over Damascus' demands for humanitarian access to Syrian citizens in the Golan Heights broke down.

The Red Star of David of the Israeli relief agency Magen David Adom (MDA) can now be placed inside the new emblem during combat in place of the red cross or Muslim red crescent.

"I can inform you that the protocol has just been adopted," said Didier Pfirter, a Swiss diplomat who has been coordinating global efforts to muster support for the new emblem.

"It has not been possible to adopt the protocol by consensus, but it has been adopted by a clear majority," he said.

Switzerland, the depositary state for the conventions, had been pressing for a consensus, saying it was more in keeping with humanitarian activity.

But it could not overcome differences, particularly between Islamic states and other members, surrounding the running of emergency services in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war, along with the occupied territories.

"The most important thing is the result. Tomorrow, nobody will remember the numbers, the votes. Everybody will have the third protocol and more protection," said Noam Yifrach, president of Israel's MDA relief service.

The Swiss called the conference to approve a new protocol to the conventions to include a third emblem alongside the movement's Red Cross and the Red Crescent symbols.

The vote was 98 in favor, 27 against, with 10 abstentions.

"Unfortunately, it is the first time in the history of international human-rights law that an international convention of this importance has been put to a vote. It is a real pity," Syrian ambassador Bashar Jaafari said.

The way to an accord appeared to have been cleared late last month when the MDA and the Palestinian Red Crescent reached a deal making the Palestinians the internationally recognized emergency service within the occupied territories.

Arab states insisted the question of responsibility for the occupied territories had to be resolved before they would consider creating a new emblem custom-made for Israel.

Syria wanted similar treatment for the Golan Heights but diplomats said there was no chance of such a pact being hammered out in Geneva -- not least because Israel does not regard the Golan to be under occupation.

The decision means Israel will now have an emblem that is recognized internationally -- the one condition it could not previously meet for membership of the movement.

But it still needs the movement's various national societies to also approve the step in a conference expected next spring.
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