UNITED NATIONS, March 13: The United Nations Security Council adopted late Tuesday night a US drafted resolution “affirming vision” of a Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel within secure and recognized borders. It also demanded immediate cessation of hostilities by Israeli and Palestinian sides.

It was the first resolution on the Middle East to be approved by the council since October 2000 and the first in recent memory concerning the troubled region to be written by Washington. In the past, the United States threatened to veto any resolution unacceptable to Israel and carried out its threat on several occasions.

The resolution was adopted by a 14-0 vote, with Syria abstaining; nearly 18 months after the start of a Palestinian uprising the United Nations says has claimed some 1,550 lives.

The resolution also came at the heels of toughest statement by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, who severely criticized Israel on Tuesday for its “illegal occupation” of Palestinian territory as he called for an end to the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence in 10 years.

The diplomats and delegates here observed that it was the first time for the UN chief to use the word “illegal” when referring to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land since the 1967 Middle East war.

Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian UN observer, hailed Annan’s address as “the clearest position” the secretary-general has taken since the start of the Palestinian uprising that has left more than 1,500 people dead. Annan also called on Israeli troops to stop bombing civilian areas and the Palestinians to halt terrorist attacks.

SYRIAN OBJECTION: Syria, the sole Arab state with a seat on the council, abstained on the grounds that the text did not mention the occupation, but put “the killer and the victim on an equal footing,” AFP adds.