Calling it "lopsided," the United States on Tuesday vetoed a United Nations (UN) resolution put forward by Arab nations demanding that Israel halt threats to harm or deport Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Eleven Security Council members voted in favour of the draft while Britain, Germany and Bulgaria abstained after hours of consultations failed to lead to a compromise acceptable to both the United States and Syria, the resolution's sponsor.

The US veto is not simply to say no to the resolution but to encourage Israel to resort to violence as the answer to its disputes with the Palestinians.

US Ambassador John Negroponte called the resolution "flawed" because it did not contain a robust criticism of Palestinian militant groups, such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, all of which have been blamed for suicide bombing attacks against Israel.

He also said the resolution would not have helped in promoting the peace "roadmap," which has the support of the UN and the European Union.

International criticism against Israel mounted since last week's decision by Israel's security Cabinet to "remove" Arafat in a manner and time to be decided.

Israel blames Arafat for sabotaging the peace process and doing nothing to prevent terrorist attacks and went even further when its Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that killing Arafat was an option.

The Israeli declaration unleashed a flood of international indignation. During nearly eight hours of harsh debate on Monday in the 15-nation Security Council, more than 40 governments, including the United States, condemned the decision in principle to get rid of Arafat and agreed on a press statement expressing "the view that the removal of Chairman Arafat would be unhelpful and should not be implemented."

Palestinian leaders are elected directly by the Palestinian people and Arafat is their democratic choice.

What is more important, Palestinian extremists have been claiming it is Israel's invasion of Palestinian territory, not Arafat, that has driven them to turn to their "martyrdom operations," namely suicide bombings, against Israel.

Using a veto does nothing but further complicate the situation in the Middle East as Israel might construe the outcome of the vote as an endorsement of its threat against Arafat.

By doing so, the United States lost its credibility to act as an honest broker in the Middle East.

(China Daily September 18, 2003)