U.S. vetoes Arafat shield

UNITED NATIONS — The United States vetoed an Arab-backed U.N. resolution Tuesday demanding that Israel halt threats to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from the West Bank, because it did not contain a condemnation of terrorist groups such as Hamas.

Eleven of the 15 Security Council nations voted in favor of the resolution, while 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.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador James Cunningham informed the council Tuesday morning that the United States would veto the latest draft. The council put off a vote for several hours, and some council members expressed hope that a compromise could be found — but none was offered.

Immediately after the vote, America’s U.N. Ambassador John Negroponte reiterated that the United States doesn’t support the elimination or forced exile of Arafat and believes that his diplomatic isolation is the best course.

He said the United States was forced to use its veto because the resolution failed to name groups such as Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, which has claimed credit for numerous suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis.

"The Palestinian Authority must take action to remove the threat of terrorist groups," Negroponte said.

Cunningham said he told council members that the latest text was unacceptable because it would not promote the peace plan known as the "road map," which is backed by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.

International criticism against Israel mounted after Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that killing Arafat was an option, although the foreign minister on Monday backtracked on the remark.

Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian U.N. observer, said the United States had lost its credibility to play an honest broker in the Middle East peace process.

Also Tuesday, Israeli officials rebuffed Palestinian proposals for a comprehensive cease-fire, saying the military would not halt strikes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until Palestinian security forces begin dismantling militant groups.

The Palestinian offer came in an interview on Israel Radio by Arafat’s national security adviser, Jibril Rajoub, who said that if Israel reined in its military, the Palestinian Authority would bring an end to terror attacks and work toward talks on a final peace settlement.

Rajoub wouldn’t commit to dismantling the militant groups, and Israeli officials made clear that without this the idea was stillborn.

"This is not the type of cease-fire which may entice us to change our policy," Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem.

"The only way the Palestinians can prove that they really want to have a peaceful solution with Israel is taking up the fight against the Hamas and the (Islamic) Jihad. If they don’t do it, we have to do it," said Lapid, who heads Israel’s third-largest party.

As if to underscore the point, Israeli troops killed an Islamic militant fugitive in an arrest raid in the West Bank village of Dura on Tuesday, witnesses and the army said. In the past, such raids have triggered revenge bombings by militants.