De :  Ioan Rosca   
Date :  Samedi 27, Mars 2004  7:05  
Objet :  Mafia romana plateste tributul Marelui prieten de la apus.....
Resolution condemning killing of Hamas leader defeated by US veto in 
Security Council 
 
UN Security Council in session 
25 March 2004 – The United Nations Security Council today failed to 
adopt a resolution that would have condemned the assassination of Hamas 
leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, with the United States vetoing what it 
called a one-sided text. 
 
The resolution, sponsored by Algeria and Libya, garnered 11 tallies in 
favour, with the United States casting the sole vote against it. 
Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom abstained. 
 
Speaking before the vote, Ambassador John D. Negroponte of the United 
States explained that his country opposed the resolution because it was 
"silent about the terrorist atrocities committed by Hamas," did not 
reflect the realities of the conflict in the Middle East and "because it 
will not further the goals of peace and security in the region." 
 
Ambassador Negroponte said the United States was "deeply troubled" by 
the killing of Sheikh Yassin. "Israel's action has escalated tensions in 
Gaza and the region, and could set back our efforts to resume progress 
towards peace," he said. 
 
But he added that events must be considered in their context and the 
Council "does nothing to contribute to a peaceful settlement when it 
condemns one party's actions and turns a blind eye to everything else 
occurring in the region." 
 
Following the vote, Algeria's Ambassador, Abdallah Baali, said the 
result was as if the Security Council concluded that it had no say in 
the terrible tragedy unfolding in that part of the world. "By not 
condemning the extrajudicial killing of Sheikh Yassin, the Security 
Council is not sending the right message to the world which has 
unanimously condemned this crime," he said. 
 
Ambassador Baali added that the Council was not sending the right 
message to those who sincerely believed that it was the custodian of 
international law. "But it is certainly sending the wrong message to 
Israel, whose representative boasted two days ago in this very chamber 
about the crime and vowed to continue the unlawful policy of 
extrajudicial killings," he said. 
 
If adopted, the text would have condemned "the most recent extrajudicial 
execution committed by Israel, the occupying Power," that killed Sheikh 
Ahmed Yassin along with six other Palestinians outside a mosque Monday 
in Gaza City, and called for a complete end to such killings. 
 
The draft expressed the Council's grave concern at the continued 
deterioration of the situation on the ground in the occupied Palestinian 
territory, including East Jerusalem, as a result of the escalation of 
violence and attacks, and condemned all terrorist attacks against any 
civilians as well as all acts of violence and destruction. 
 
The draft also called on all sides to immediately undertake an 
unconditional cessation of acts of violence, including all acts of 
terrorism, provocation, incitement and destruction. 
 
In a related provision, the Council would have called for the end to all 
illegal measures and practices and for respect for and adherence to 
international humanitarian law. Both parties would have been called on 
to fulfil their obligations under the Road Map and to work with the 
Quartet to implement it, in order to achieve the vision of the two 
States living side-by-side in peace and security. 
 
The Road Map is a plan sponsored by the UN, European Union, Russian 
Federation and United States that calls for a series of parallel and 
reciprocal steps leading to two States living side by side in peace by 
2005.