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Sat, Feb 19, 2011 | Egypt State Information Center

Hossam Zaki, Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesman

Egypt Criticizes U.S. Veto in UNSC

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Saturday (Feb 19, 2011) in which it criticized the U.S. veto of a UN draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the disputed territories.

Hossam Zaki, the ministry’s spokesman, expressed thanks to all member states that adopted the draft in a bid to defend the Palestinian cause and end Israeli settlements.

It is regrettable that all the other 14 UN Security Council members were backing the draft and this makes the U.S. stance isolated from international consensus on this vital issue, he said.

The U.S. stance is “disappointing” not only to the Palestinian and Arab peoples but also to all countries that voted in favor of the draft, Zaki said.

Zaki said the Egyptian public opinion hoped that the United States would shoulder its responsibility and let the UNSC (United Nations Security Council) adopt a clear-cut stance forcing Israel to end settlements which make the chance to have an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital slim.

The US veto will harm the credibility of the United States as a peace mediator, he said.

The United States vetoed a UN resolution Friday that would have condemned Israeli “illegal” settlements beyond the Green Line and demanded an immediate halt to all settlement building.

The 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution in Friday’s vote, reflecting the wide support for the Palestinian-backed draft which had about 130 co-sponsors. The Council is composed of five permanent members — China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States (which used its veto) — and ten non-permanent members: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, India, South Africa, Colombia, Lebanon, Gabon and Nigeria.

Zaki also slammed the U.S. excuses for vetoing the draft. The US has said that adopting such a draft would have encouraged all sides to remain outside the negotiations.

US Ambassador Susan Rice Friday said the overriding issue for the Obama administration was whether the resolution would lead to renewed peace negotiations.

“Unfortunately, this draft resolution risks hardening the positions of both sides,” Rice said and Friday’s veto should not be “misunderstood to mean we support settlement activity,”