The US vetoed a UN resolution that called on Israel to halt threats to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from the West Bank, saying it was "lopsided" and didn't condemn terrorist groups attacking Israel.
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 suicide attacks against Israel.
Arafat dismissed the resolution's failure as unimportant.
"No decision here or there will shake us," Arafat told supporters at his West Bank headquarters yesterday. "We are bigger than all decisions."
Other Palestinian officials, however, said the vote showed the US had lost its credibility as an honest broker in the Middle East. They feared the veto would be seen by Israel as a green light to move against Arafat.
"It's a black day for the United Nations," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said by telephone. "I hope that Israel will not interpret the killing of this resolution as a license to kill Arafat."
Of the 15 Security Council members, 11 voted Tuesday in favor of the resolution. Britain, Germany and Bulgaria abstained.
Syria, the only Arab nation on the Security Council, had been pressing for a vote since last week's decision by Israel's security Cabinet to "remove" Arafat in a manner and time to be decided. Israel blames Arafat for sabotaging the peace process and doing nothing to prevent terrorist attacks.
Negroponte reiterated that the US didn't support the elimination or forced exile of Arafat and believes that his diplomatic isolation is the best course.
"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," he said.
At a council meeting Monday, virtually all the 40-plus speakers condemned Israel's threats against Arafat.
But Negroponte said the resolution would not have helped in promoting the "road map" for peace, which has the support of the UN and Europe.
Syria's UN Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad expressed regret at the vote, calling the resolution "highly balanced," and noting that most of the language came from previous resolutions that had been adopted by the Security Council.
"The fact that the US delegation used its veto is something extremely regrettable," he said. "It only complicates a situation in the Middle East that is already very complicated."
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."
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