US refuses to condemn Israeli air strike

Syria demanded that the UN Security Council condemn Israel’s airstrike against an alleged terrorist training camp near Damascus, but the United States said it would not support any resolution that does not also criticise attacks against Israel.

At an emergency meeting called at Syria’s request, all the council diplomats except US Ambassador John Negroponte spoke out against the airstrike.

Most also condemned the deadly suicide bombing in the Israeli port city of Haifa that prompted Israel’s retaliation.

Negroponte instead only condemned the Haifa attack, while blaming Syria for harbouring terrorists.

He called on “all sides to avoid heightening tensions and to think carefully about the consequences of their actions”.

“The United States believes that Syria is on the wrong side of the war on terrorism,” he told the council. “We believe it is in Syria’s interest, and in the broader interest of Middle East peace, for Syria to stop harbouring and supporting the groups that perpetrate acts such as the one that occurred yesterday.”

Negroponte indicated that the United States broadly opposed the text of a draft resolution tabled by Syria and questioned why it made no mention of the Haifa attack.

“It’s just incredible to me that in the wake of an event like that, that a draft resolution coming from a delegation of the council would have no reference whatsoever to this dastardly act,” he told reporters after the session. ”Another resolution on the Middle East is not what is needed.”

Negroponte, the 15-member council’s president for October, has not scheduled another meeting to discuss the Syrian document, saying diplomats needed time to consult with their governments.

The United States has regularly used its veto to block resolutions condemning Israel, its close ally. The US position is that resolutions must roundly condemn all forms of terrorism.

Negroponte did not say whether the United States would exercise the veto power it wields as one of five permanent council members. Another diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said discussions were continuing and no one had threatened a veto.

The Israeli raid on what it claimed was an Islamic Jihad training base came in retaliation for a suicide bombing carried out by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Saturday. The bombing, at a restaurant in the Israeli coastal city of Haifa, killed 19 people and the bomber.

Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman defended the airstrike as “an act of self-defence” within the law.

“Syrian complicity and responsibility for suicide bombings is as blatant as it is repugnant,” he said.

“For Syria to ask a debate in this council is comparable only to the Taliban calling for such a debate after 9/11.”

Gillerman also expressed anger that the meeting was called just before the holiest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, and left the council after his speech to observe the holiday. Israel is not a Security Council member.

Most council diplomats condemned both Israel’s airstrike in Syria as well as the bombing in Haifa, although they said Israel’s retaliation action was not justified.