Palestinians said Wednesday that a U.S. veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that Israel not harm or expel Arafat showed that Washington was turning its back on the so-called Middle East "road-map" for peace.
Palestinian President Arafat, in reaction to Tuesday's move, told a visiting delegation of Palestinian intellectuals in Ramallah, he was not surprised by the U.S. veto, and stressed the Palestinians were more important than any resolution.
Arafat added that the silence of the world in this regard would not weaken the Palestinian plight.
Meanwhile, Palestinian cabinet minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said American policy had become a "hostage" to Israeli hardliners.
For his part, Syria's UN Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad, whose country sponsored the resolution, expressed regret at the vote, calling the resolution "highly balanced" and adding that most of the language came from previous resolutions that had been adopted by the U.N. Security Council.
"The fact that the U.S. delegation used its veto is something extremely regrettable," he said. "It only complicates a situation in the Middle East that is already very complicated."
Nabil Abu Rudeinah, Yasser Arafat's media advisor, on his part, said the U.S. veto encourages Israel to continue with its aggressive policies towards the Palestinian people. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
