U.S. vetoes U.N. resolution on Israel
Ambassador: Arab-backed draft document is ‘biased,’ ‘politically motivated’
The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS – The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council draft resolution Saturday that sought to condemn an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and demand Israeli troops pull out the territory.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the Arab-backed draft resolution was “biased against Israel and politically motivated.”
“This resolution does not display an evenhanded characterization of the recent events in Gaza, nor does it advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace to which we aspire and for which we are working assiduously,” he told the Security Council.
It was the second U.S. veto of a Security Council draft resolution concerning Israeli military operations in Gaza this year. The U.S. blocked action on a document this summer after Israel launched its offensive in response to the capture of an Israeli soldier by Hamas-linked Palestinian militants.
The draft received 10 votes in favor and four abstentions, along with the U.S. vote against. Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia all abstained.
Danish Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Loj said her country abstained because the draft did not include “a more thorough recognition of the complexities on the ground.” [More]
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Comment by chairwoman — November 13, 2006 @ 1:55 pm |