Security Council Fails to Adopt Resolution on MideastThe UN Security Council on Tuesday failed to adopt a resolution on sending a UN observer force to the Middle East to check the violence in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel due to the objection by the United States.The vote was cast on a draft submitted by the nonaligned movement (NAM) caucus represented by Bangladesh, Columbia, Jamaica, Mali, Mauritius, Singapore and Tunisia. China and Russia voted in favor, while Britain, France, Norway and Ireland abstained. Ukraine did not take part in the vote. The draft revolution requests U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to consult Palestine and Israel on immediate and substantive steps to implement the resolution and to report to the council within one month. It expresses the council's "readiness to act upon receipt of the report to set up an appropriate mechanism to protect Palestinian civilians, including through the establishment of a United Nations observer force". The draft was polished during extensive consultations between the NAM caucus and concerned parties in the past several days. In the draft, the council expresses its grave concern at the continuation of tragic and violent events since September 2000, which resulted in deaths and injuries, mostly among Palestinians. It also expresses grave concern at the dire economic and humanitarian situation due to the closures of the occupied Palestinian territories, and at the expansion of Israeli settlements in the territories. Calling for the immediate cessation of all acts of violence and the return to the positions which existed before September 2000, the council urges a resumption of negotiations within the Middle East peace process. The draft appeals to Israel and Palestine to implement "promptly and without preconditions" the understandings reached at the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit last October. It asks the international donor community to extend rapid economic and financial aid to the Palestinian people. The Palestinians have been pushing for the dispatch of a UN military observer force to check the violence in West Bank and Gaza as the six-month conflict left more than 400 dead and caused severe economic losses to the Palestinians. Speaking after the vote, US acting ambassador to the UN James Cunninggham said the US veto was based on the reason that it sees the NAM initiative "unbalanced, unworkable and hence unwise". In December 2000, a Palestinian call for a UN observer force failed to get the minimum number of votes required for adoption in the 15-member council. Palestinian representative Al-Kidwa said the Palestinian side still welcomes Annan to continue his efforts in helping seek solutions to the Middle East conflict. |
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