" The US has enraged Palestinians and other Arabs by killing off a UN security
council resolution that would have opened the way for international observers to be
sent to the Middle East."
Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Thursday March 29, 2001
The Guardian
The US has enraged Palestinians and
other Arabs by killing off a UN security
council resolution that would have opened
the way for international observers to be
sent to the Middle East.
Palestinians, who have been pushing for a
UN force to help protect the civilian
population of the West Bank and Gaza,
condemned the US announcement on
Tuesday night. The Israelis, opposed to
international involvement in the conflict,
thanked the US.
James Cunningham, the chief US
representative to the UN, said the US had
vetoed the resolution because "it is
unbalanced and unworkable and hence
unwise".
European countries, including Britain and
France, abstained. They expressed
disappointment that agreement on a
formula could not be reached.
Intensive negotiations took place among
security council members at the UN's
New York headquarters to reach a
consensus on a resolution. Late on
Tuesday, a deal was being predicted by
the European members, and a draft was
under discussion that avoided using the
words "observer force" and instead
referred vaguely to a "protection
mechanism", which the Europeans
believed could have given the UN
secretary general, Kofi Annan, the
opportunity to send in an observer force.
The compromise formula was to be sent
to capitals for consideration overnight,
with the vote taking place yesterday.
But the seven non-aligned countries on
the 15-member security council -
Singapore, Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali,
Mauritius, Colombia and Tunisia - are
sympathetic to the Palestinian position
and moved to an immediate vote on a
much tougher resolution.
It called for the setting up of "an
appropriate mechanism to protect
Palestinian civilians, including through the
establishment of a UN observer force".
The vote was nine to one with four
abstentions. The non-aligned countries
were joined by Russia and China. Britain,
France, Ireland and Norway abstained.
Ukraine did not vote.
The Israeli foreign ministry released a
statement saying it wished "to express its
appreciation for the American decision". It
said: "It is ironic that the members of the
security council put forward an
unbalanced proposal regarding the
protection of Palestinian civilians precisely
at this time, when Israeli citizens, victims
of Palestinian terrorism, are being killed
and injured."
guardian.co.uk |
