UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Arab nations are to request the UN Security Council to vote on a draft resolution on Gaza on Thursday afternoon, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said.

    "Our firm position is that we cannot waste more time, (and) the Security Council will be asked, requested to vote on a draft resolution this afternoon," Moussa told reporters as he emerged along with other Arab representatives from closed-door consultations at UN Headquarters.

    The Arabs and the foreign ministers of the United States, Britain and France have been debating two competing draft resolutions to try to reach a compromise.

    The Arab text, a revised version based on the draft submitted by Libya, demands an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and specifically includes a reference to the end of rocket firings by Hamas.

    The U.S., British and French ministers, who had extended their stay in New York, dropped their proposed presidential statement which would only stress the need for an "immediate and durable ceasefire" and welcome the truce initiative launched by Egypt on Tuesday.

    Instead, during consultations with their Arab counterparts on Thursday, they put forward a Security Council draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

    "A lot of progress has been made," U.S. Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters at the end of a round of discussions.