The United States on Tuesday vetoed a United Nations draft
resolution demanding that Israel not harm or deport Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat, because it did not contain a condemnation of
what the United States describes as terrorist groups such as
Hamas.
Eleven of the 15 Security Council nations voted in favor of the
draft and Britain, Germany and Bulgaria abstained.
The rejected draft resolution would have demanded "that Israel,
the occupying power, desist from any act of deportation and to
cease any threat to the safety of the elected president of the
Palestinian Authority."
International criticism against Israel mounted after Israeli
Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that killing Arafat was
an option. A Syrian-sponsored resolution demanding Israel not harm
or deport Arafat was debated at the UN Security Council on
Monday.
At the council meeting Monday, virtually all of the more than 40
speakers condemned Israel's threats against Arafat.
US Deputy Ambassador James Cunningham informed the council
Tuesday morning that the United States would veto the latest draft.
The council put off a vote for several hours, and some council
members hoped that a compromise could be found, but none was
offered.
Immediately after the vote, US Ambassador to the UN John
Negroponte reiterated that the United States does not support the
elimination or forced exile of Arafat and believes that his
diplomatic isolation is the best course.
He said the United States was forced to use its veto because the
resolution failed to name groups such as Hamas and the Al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigade, which have claimed credit for numerous suicide
bombings and other attacks against Israelis.
Syria's UN Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad expressed regret at the
vote, calling the resolution "highly balanced," and noting that
most of the language came from previous resolutions that had been
adopted by the Security Council.
"The fact that the US delegation used its veto is something
extremely regrettable," he said. "It only complicates a situation
in the Middle East that is already very complicated."
Last Friday, the 15 council members agreed on a press statement
expressing the view that "the removal of Chairman Arafat would be
unhelpful and should not be implemented."
Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian UN observer, said the United
States had lost its credibility to play an honest broker in the
Middle East peace process.
The last veto of a Middle East resolution was also by the United
States on Dec. 20 last year. That was an Arab-backed resolution
condemning Israel for the killings of three UN workers that US
officials termed one-sided.
One council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a
US veto would send the wrong message, especially to the Arab world
at a time when the United States faces serious problems in
Iraq.
(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2003)