U.N. General Assembly President Jan Eliasson is in bilateral consultations with various groups, including the U.N. office of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), regarding proposed text for a new human rights body, assembly spokeswoman Pragati Pascale said Monday. The OIC issued a proposal last week for the text on the new U.N. Human Rights Council that implicitly referred to global unrest following the publication of cartoons that disparage Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. Eliasson hopes to have a new complete text for the Human Rights Council by the end of this week or early next week, Pascale told reporters, adding that Eliasson also will be meeting with Yemen's U.N. ambassador this week to discuss the OIC proposal. The office of the OIC would not confirm the consultations.
