UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday urged Security Council to make progress on the problem of Israel and Palestine, which lies at the heart of the major conflict in the Middle East.

In an opening statement for the council's ministerial meeting on the situation in the Middle East, the secretary-general said the council's failure to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict "calls into question the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the council itself."

Citing the recent Israel-Hezbollah conflict as an example, Annan said the event shows "how dangerous it is to leave the broader Arab-Israeli conflict unresolved, and how interconnected the region's problems are."

The UN Security Council has come under criticism for failing to stop the conflict which raged on from mid-July to mid-August.

However, the council's adoption of resolution 1701 which ended the conflict shows that it can play a vital role in the search for peace in the region, Annan said.

Stressing the need for "a comprehensive, just and lasting peace " in the region, he said the council "must make progress on the issue at the heart of the conflict, which is the problem of Israel and Palestine."

He also called for building a bridge between Israel and Palestine "to enable them to reach peace."

"The bridge to peace must be wide enough to accommodate all who have a legitimate stake in the process, long enough to span the enormous gulf of mistrust that separates the parties, and strong enough to withstand the efforts that will inevitably be made to sabotage it," he added.

Besides, the UN chief and foreign ministers from the 15 council members, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas also attended the meeting.

The meeting was held under a call from Arab states for the council to play a role in reviving the stalled Middle East peace process. The United States had rejected the idea of holding such a meeting but finally gave in to the insistence by the majority of other countries.

Source: Xinhua