US vetoes UN resolution

A UNITED Nations’ resolution demanding that Israel does not harm or deport the Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat, was vetoed by the United States yesterday.

The resolution, drafted by the Palestinian UN envoy, Nasser al-Kidwa, and backed by Arab governments "demands that Israel, the occupying power, desist from any act of deportation and cease any threat to the safety of the elected president of the Palestinian Authority".

Accusing Mr Arafat of fomenting violence, an allegation he denies, the Israeli security cabinet last week announced Israel would "remove" him as "an obstacle to peace", although it did not say how or when.

The Israeli declaration unleashed a flood of international indignation. During nearly eight hours of harsh debate in the 15-nation Security Council on Monday, more than 40 governments condemned the decision in principle to get rid of Mr Arafat.

Speaking immediately after yesterday’s UN Security Council vote, America’s UN envoy, John Negroponte, reiterated that the United States does not support the elimination or forced exile of Mr Arafat and believes that his diplomatic isolation is the best course.

He said the United States was forced to veto because the resolution failed to name groups such as Hamas and the al-Aqsa Brigades, which Washington blames for promoting terrorism. "The Palestinian Authority must take action to remove the threat of terrorist groups," he said.

Eleven Security Council members voted in favour while Britain, Germany and Bulgaria abstained after hours of consultations failed to lead to a compromise acceptable to both the United States and Syria, the resolution’s sponsor.

The diplomatic manoeuvres in New York came as a key adviser to the Palestinian president yesterday offered Israel an open-ended ceasefire.

Israeli officials dismissed the move as a "honey trap", the real aim of which was not peace but to stave off Israel’s stated intent to "remove" Mr Arafat from his Ramallah headquarters.

Jibril Rajoub, the national security adviser, made the proposal in Arabic on al-Jazeera television, and then in Hebrew on Israeli Radio.

He stressed the new ceasefire would differ from a Palestinian one announced by militants in June in that Israel would be asked to sign on to it officially.

Mr Rajoub said Israel would be asked to respond with a wide range of measures - halting "aggression" operations by its army, freezing settlements, ending building a security wall in the West Bank and releasing Palestinian prisoners.

With little hope of Israel agreeing to such demands, the proposal appeared to be aimed mostly at the international audience.

Following two suicide bombings last week, Israel’s security cabinet formally endorsed Mr Arafat’s removal, although ministers have at least partly backtracked from suggestions he could be killed. In addition, Israel has pursued a no-holds-barred effort to track down and kill leading militants.

Raanan Gissin, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, termed Mr Rajoub’s proposal "an effort to save Mr Arafat on the one hand and stop the targeted operations against Hamas leaders on the other".

Mohammed Nazal, a Hamas leader based in Beirut, said that the movement had not been consulted about the proposal.

Israeli troops yesterday raided Mr Rajoub’s home town of Dura in the West Bank, killing an Islamic Jihad fugitive who the army said had been involved in attacks which killed 16 Israelis.