US credibility at stake in UN vote against illegal Israeli settlements

Ma'an-AFP- Palestinian negotiator Nabil Sha'ath warned that Washington risks losing" any credibility as a peace broker" if it vetoes a UN Security Council resolution calling for a halt to Israeli settlement building.

The Palestinians will address the 15-member Security Council "whether or not the United States wants it," Sha'ath told reporters late on Monday in Doha, where he was speaking to Al-Jazeera TV, and confirming the authenticity of the leaked "Palestine Papers" on peace talks with Israel.

"If you use the veto against this resolution, you will forever lose what's left of your credibility as a sponsor of the peace process," he said, addressing the United States.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has not clarified whether Washington plans to veto the resolution, has described the Palestinian efforts as unhelpful.

"The only way that there will be a resolution of the conflict ... is through a negotiated settlement," she said last week. "We don't see action at the UN or any other forum as being helpful in bringing about this desired outcome."

But Sha'ath said the Palestinians had "14 members [of the UN Security Council] on our side," with the United States as the sole holdout.

"All of them including, Britain, France, Russia and China -- four of the five permanent members -- have informed us they will vote for the resolution which condemns Israeli settlement and calls for a freeze," he said.

The draft resolution against Israeli construction in the occupied Palestinian territories and occupied East Jerusalem was formally put to the Security Council last week with Lebanon, Brazil and South Africa as sponsors.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Ryad Mansour, said the resolution would help revive direct peace talks, which his side has rejected unless Israel renews a moratorium on settlement building that expired in late September. Read more