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)