U.S. Vows Veto of Another U.N. Mideast Resolution

UNITED NATIONS —  The U.S. said it would block an Arab attempt to get the Security Council to pass its fourth resolution on the Middle East crisis in four weeks, arguing in a protracted debate here Monday that further U.N. action could undermine Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s cease-fire mission.

Nasser Kidwa, the Palestinian representative to the U.N., said he hoped the council would adopt a new resolution demanding Israel’s immediate withdrawal from West Bank cities and decrying the “humanitarian crisis” there. The proposed resolution, presented to the council Monday night, would also endorse an undefined “international presence that could help provide better conditions on the ground.”

But the United States made it clear that it would veto almost any U.N. resolution on the Middle East this week. “We do not need any more resolutions,” said John D.Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “We need full implementation of the existing ones.”

The council planned to resume its deliberations today. Overnight, Israeli forces began pulling out of two West Bank cities--the result of pressure from the United States, not the United Nations, diplomats here acknowledge.

Last month, U.S. diplomats surprised critics here by drafting a resolution endorsing Palestinian statehood, and then, as Israeli tanks rolled through the streets of Ramallah, backing a European resolution calling for Israel’s withdrawal and a “meaningful” cease-fire.