Palestinians blast US veto on Arafat

Palestinian women, waving Fatah (2nd R) and national flags, dance during a demonstration in support of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza City, organised by the Association of Women Committees for Social Work, yesterday. The Palestinians condemned the US veto on an Arab Security Council resolution opposing Israel's plan to expel Arafat, saying the move would encourage an "Israeli military escalation." Photo: AFP

The Palestinians, who had generated wide global support for the resolution, said the vote showed the United States had lost its credibility as an honest broker in the Middle East. They feared the veto would be seen by Israel as a green light to move against Arafat.

"It's a black day for the United Nations," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said by telephone. "I hope that Israel will not interpret the killing of this resolution as a license to kill Arafat."

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Syria, the only Arab nation on the Security Council, had been pressing for a vote 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.

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."

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. He warned that "serious consequences may follow the use of this veto, and the United States will bear the consequences for that."

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon postponed a meeting of his security cabinet which was due to decide Wednesday the path of a new section of a controversial West Bank security barrier after the United States warned it could dock loan guarantees as punishment for its construction.

The security cabinet had been expected to decide whether the barrier should snake round the Jewish settlements of Kedoumin and Ariel, which lies some 20 kilometers (12 miles) over the Green Line which separates Israel from the West Bank.

The meeting was delayed "until next week, not under pressure from the United State but because Prime Minister (Ariel) Sharon has an overloaded timetable," said Sharon's office.

But Housing Minister Effy Eitam told military radio that while the "Americans are allies of Israel who are helping the economic plan, there should be limits to the interference by a foreign country on matters of vital security for Israel."

US President George W. Bush has called the barrier, which at times cuts deep into Palestinian territory, a "problem".

The US State Department said Tuesday that Washington would penalize Israel for building in Palestinian areas by deducting the amount spent on such settlements from promised loan guarantees.