September 18, 2003	Thursday	Rajab 20, 1424

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RAMALLAH, Sept 17: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Wednesday dismissed the blocking of a UN vote which condemned Israeli plans for his “removal”, a move which fellow Palestinians said undermined US claims to act as an honest broker in the peace process.

“The international silence will not make us weak,” the Palestinian leader told supporters at his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah. “We do not care about any resolution here or there and we are stronger than any decision.”

But Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat called Washington’s decision to veto the Security Council resolution a “black day” for the UN.

“I hope that Israel does not understand the decision to kill the resolution as a licence to kill President Arafat,” he told AFP.

Palestinian government affairs minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the US move had weakened trust that Washington would act as an honest broker between the two sides.

“This veto only encourages extremists here and in the region and only weakens trust in the American policy, mainly regarding implementation of the roadmap,” he told reporters here.

Washington used its veto power to block the resolution, saying the measure took no steps to tackle Palestinian militant groups like Hamas.

“We will not support any resolution that evades the explicit threat to the Middle East peace process posed by Hamas and other such terrorist groups,” said John Negroponte, the US ambassador to the United Nations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom hailed the veto and the abstentions from vote as a rebuff to “extremist” Arab governments.

“It was very important to show these extremists that every time they want to bring an anti-Israeli resolution to the Security Council, it won’t get an automatic majority,” he said.—AFP