Sharon’s government poses "a threat to the stability of the region," Kidwa said

UNITED NATIONS, September 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Meeting for an emergency session few days after the U.S. vetoed a draft Security Council resolution demanding Israel not to expel Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, the U.N. General Assembly on Friday, September 19, overwhelmingly passed a similar a measure.

The new resolution, which was unanimously supported by the 25 European Union member states, had 133 votes in favor, four against and 15 abstentions.

It was the first time the EU voted as a bloc on a resolution opposed by the U.S., which is seen by diplomats as an indication of the extent of the widening rift between Europe and Washington, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The U.S. and Israel both voted against the resolution, which was amended by the European Union to include mention of both Palestinian attacks and Israeli extra judicial killings.

Blind Support

In the halls of the General Assembly - where U.S. President George Bush will come next week to ask the world body for international help in Iraq – nations took turns in lambasting the Israeli threat and the U.S. veto at the council.

Sudanese Ambassador to the U.N. Elfatih Mohamed Ahmed Erwa, whose country holds the current chairman of the U.N.'s Arab bloc, said Washington "could have sent a positive signal" by not vetoing the first resolution.

"But it chose ... to slow down the peace process with its blind support of Israel," he stressed.

"Slap"

Welcoming the General Assembly resolution, the Palestinian Authority described it as a "slap" at the face of Israel.

"The result of the vote is a slap for Israel and those who support it. The General Assembly vote expresses the support of the majority of member states for Arafat and the Palestinian people," Palestinian president advisor Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.

Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erakat, added: "The majority of member states have come out in favor of the peace process, for the end of the (Israeli) occupation, the rights of the Palestinian people and Arafat, their elected president."

Palestinian representative to the U.N., Nasser al-Kidwa, told the world body Israel had failed to abide by international law and that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was "a threat to the stability of the region."

He said expelling Arafat would be "illegal", "insane" and a "terrorist act" that would lead to the destruction of the Palestinian Authority and the whole Middle East peace process, reported the BBC News Online.

In a meeting Thursday, September 11, the Israeli security cabinet agreed by majority to outline a plan to expel Arafat.

"Will the international community find the collective will ... to ensure respect for international law?" al-Kidwa asked.

Resolutions passed by the U.N. General Assembly are not legally binding like those of the Security Council, but carry the weight of global opinion.

The Mideast Quartet, grouping the U.S., U.N., E.U. and Russia, which drafted the internationally-endorsed roadmap plan, will meet on the sidelines of the U.N. general session hat begins here on Tuesday.

Terje Roed-Larsen, the U.N.'s special envoy to the Middle East, told the council on Monday that implementation of the roadmap, which calls for a Palestinian state by 2005, was at a standstill.

He maintained that Israel needed to do more, including stop building settlements, to get the plan up and running.

"Meaningless"

In occupied Jerusalem, an Israeli government spokesman claimed the resolution was "meaningless."

For his part, U.S. ambassador John Negroponte to the U.N. took aim at what he called the U.N.'s "pattern of one-sided recriminations."

"I regret that the United Nations will not send a positive and unified message to support the peace process," he said.

Both Israel and the U.S. argue that Arafat has undermined the roadmap and Bush on Thursday urged the Palestinians to oust him as their elected leader.

"The people of the Palestinian territory must understand that, if they want peace, they must have leadership that is absolutely 100 percent committed to fighting off terror."