Qatar is moving for a condemnation of Israel at the UN for its operation in Jericho on Tuesday and the U.S. is threatening to veto any such action. Qatar is a non-permanent member of the Security Council and will assume the Council presidency in December 2006.
A draft statement by Qatari Ambassador Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, representing Arab nations, would have condemned "Israel's violent incursion" in besieging the Jericho jail, and would have demanded that Israel return the prisoners it seized "and to return the situation to that which existed prior to the Israeli military attack." A second, milder resolution is expected to be introduced by Qatar on Wednesday.
As a result of the dispute over the wording of the UN resolution, the Security Council issued a milder statement Tuesday afternoon. It expressed concern about an upsurge in violence, urged all sides to exercise restraint, and called for the release of foreigners who were kidnapped in retaliation.
The flurry of action to condemn the Jewish State comes as no surprise, though we'd like to point out the abhorrently misplaced priorities of the UN. As the Arabs move forward on their action, the nuclear ambitions of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad go unchecked. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tuesday that the nuclear program is "irreversible" and any retreat would endanger Tehran's independence.
Discussions are ongoing as to how to proceed in the Security Council and on language for a presidential statement - Russia and China continue to be roadblocks to progress as they seek to water-down proposed language in the U.S. - EU draft. Their primary objection appears to be the U.S. - EU requirement in the presidential statement of a report in two weeks on Iran's compliance with demands that it suspend uranium enrichment.
John Bolton certainly knows how high the stakes are. "Every day that goes by is a day that permits the Iranians to get closer to a nuclear-weapons capability," Bolton said. Maybe that's part of the reason he walked out of the meeting on Qatar's resolution Tuesday afternoon.
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