The United States has used its veto power to kill a Middle East resolution urging monitors in the West Bank and Gaza on grounds it was unbalanced towards Israel and would not promote the peace process.
The vote in the 15-member UN Security Council was 12 to 1 with 2 abstentions, Britain and Norway. Ireland and France, the other two European Union members on the council, were among the yes votes.
"The resolution before us fails to address the dynamic at work in the region," US Ambassador Mr John Negroponte said. "Instead its purpose is to isolate politically one of the parties to the conflict through an attempt to throw the weight of the Council behind the other party."
The measure would have encouraged all concerned to establish a monitoring mechanism to help create a better situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. It condemned all terrorist acts, particularly against civilians, executions without trial, excessive use of force and wide destruction of properties.
The measure, sponsored by Egypt and Tunisia, also stressed the essential role of the Palestinian Authority, a day after Israel severed ties with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and branded him irrelevant because of a spate of attacks that have killed dozens of Israelis this month. Israel killed eight Palestinians on Friday.