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U.S. Abstains in UN Vote Criticizing Israel

(Associated Press) - The Palestinians and their Arab partners on the Security Council rejected the American draft, setting off 10 hours of negotiations as France, Britain, Norway, and Ireland worked to find a compromise. The compromise resolution approved Tuesday by 14-0 - the U.S. abstained - demands that Israel cease actions around Yasser Arafat's West Bank compound while condemning terrorist attacks. "The resolution that we've adopted this evening was flawed in our view in that it failed to explicitly condemn the terrorist groups and those who provide them with political cover, support, and safe haven in perpetuating conflict in the Middle East," Deputy U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham said. The United States had threatened to veto the resolution but ultimately abstained when some of the language it had sought - condemning terrorist attacks and bringing the perpetrators to justice - was inserted into the final text.
2002-09-24 00:00:00
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