UN: Sidestepping a US veto in the Security Council, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly yesterday to tell Israel to drop a threat to harm or deport Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
The 191-nation assembly, where Washington has no veto, voted 133-4, with 15 abstentions, in an emergency session to adopt a resolution demanding that the Jewish state not carry out a policy to "remove" Arafat.
The US and Israel voted No, joined by the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. Australia, Canada, Kenya and Colombia were among those abstaining.
Arab and non-aligned nations asked the assembly to act after the US on Tuesday vetoed a virtually identical measure in the 15-nation Security Council.
Yesterday's vote revealed divisions in the quartet of international mediators - the US, Russia, the EU and the UN - responsible for the road map intended to guide the region to Palestinian statehood, a secure Israel and lasting peace.
Quartet officials are due to meet at the UN next Friday to weigh what next steps to take in the crisis. While the US voted against the measure, Russia and the 15 EU states voted for it.
EU members unanimously swung in line behind the resolution after its sponsors agreed at the last minute to add phrases condemning both Palestinian suicide bombings and Israeli targeted killings of Palestinian militants.
Israel sparked an international outcry last week when, acting after back-to-back suicide bombings killed 15 Israelis, it announced a decision "to remove" Arafat as an "obstacle to peace." It did not say how or when it would do so.
