US veto won't shake us, says Arafat
Arabs around the world expressed anger, saying Israel may see the veto as a green light to move against the Palestinian leader.
Washington says it opposes expelling Mr Arafat from the West Bank. But it said the UN resolution calling for Israel to halt its threats was "lopsided" and didn't condemn terrorist groups attacking Israel.
Arabs were dismayed by the veto, with some saying the vote showed the United States had lost its credibility as an honest broker in the Middle East.
Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, said he hoped the veto doesn't mean the US supports Israeli policies "which are opposed by the whole world".
Arafat, speaking to supporters at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah, dismissed the US move. "No decision here or there will shake us," he said.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said US officials "informed us officially" that the veto "is not in any way a green light for Israel".
But that did not reassure many in the Arab world. "The pretext saying that the draft resolution was unbalanced is baseless," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said. He echoed concern Israel might see the vote as a license to go after Mr Arafat.
The Palestinians generated global support for the resolution. Of the 15 Security Council members, 11 voted on Tuesday in favour. Britain, Germany and Bulgaria abstained.
US Ambassador John Negroponte said the resolution did not contain a condemnation of terrorist groups such as Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, blamed for several suicide attacks against Israel.
He said: "It was lopsided and it didn't take into account the elements we thought it ought to take into account, including a robust criticism of Palestinian terrorism."
But Arabs warned the US blocking of the resolution undermined its positions in the Middle East.
"Clearly this is not a neutral position," Ziad Abu Amr, a member of the outgoing Palestinian Cabinet, said.
Senior Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rdeneh told reporters the veto could jeopardise the US-backed roadmap for Mideast peace. The vote "is a real encouragement for the Israelis to continue their escalation", he said.
Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian UN observer, said the US lost its credibility as an honest broker and warned that "serious consequences may follow". The Israeli threats against Mr Arafat brought criticism from around the world and warnings not to carry out the move.
Criticism against Israel mounted after Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday killing Mr Arafat was an option, although the foreign minister later backtracked.
Last Friday, the 15 council members including the US agreed on a press statement expressing the view "that the removal of chairman Arafat would be unhelpful and should not be implemented".
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".
It would have condemned Israel's targeted assassinations of militant leaders and Palestinian suicide bombings, "all of which caused enormous suffering and many innocent victims". It would also have called for a cessation of "all acts of terrorism, provocation, incitement and destruction".
France said it regretted that the UN resolution on Israel didn't pass. The resolution "had a balanced message we believed could bring a consensus", Cecile Pozzo di Borgo, the French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said. Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman said after the vote that the resolution "did not focus on terrorism killing innocent men, women and children".
The last veto of a Middle East resolution was also by the US on December 20, 2002 an Arab-backed resolution condemning Israel for the killings of three UN workers US officials termed one-sided.
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