United Nations, April 11, SPA -- The U.N. Arab Group met Monday to discuss the possibility of requesting an open meeting on the Middle East situation after the upsurge in violence over the past week. "I think Qatar is going to ask them [Security Council]," said Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour. "Our central objective is to stop Israeli escalation." He noted that the meeting would be called in the hopes of securing a presidential statement from the council. Qatar is a non-permanent member of the Security Council, and generally represents the Arab group in council meetings. Mansour sent a letter Monday to the president of the Security Council, Wang Guangya, to request that the council intervene. --SPA 10 28 Local Time 07 28 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/352775