Abbas says he won't cut ties with US over UN veto

Feb 19, 2011, 16:27 GMT

Ramallah - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that he does not expect to cut ties with the United States over its veto of a UN resolution on Israeli settlement activities in the Palestinian territories.

The United States on Friday vetoed a resolution that received 14 votes in favour from the United Nations Security Council's 15 members, effectively killing the demand by Arab and Muslim countries to brand Israeli settlements 'illegal.'

'We are not seeking to break from the US administration and it is not in our interest to do that,' Abbas said. 'We only want to protect our interest and our rights as guaranteed in international law.'

In spite of the failure of the resolution, Abbas said that Palestinian diplomacy had achieved success because 14 Security Council members voted in favour of the resolution.

He admitted to pressure from the US to withdraw the resolution. 'But our concern for the interest of the Palestinian people was bigger than all the pressure,' he said.

US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Abbas hours before the scheduled vote in an attempt to dissuade him from proceeding with it.

Abbas said the Palestinian leadership made 'a wise decision' by proceeding with the Security Council resolution.

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