[Reuters] Louis Charbonneau - The U.S. thwarted an effort by Libya on Saturday to persuade the UN Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after Israel launched a ground invasion, diplomats said. The U.S. refused to back the Libyan-drafted text or a later, watered-down call for a truce. The U.S. insists that any resolution state that Hamas is a terrorist organization that seized power in Gaza from the legitimate Palestinian Authority. U.S. envoy Alejandro Wolff said there was no point in issuing statements that Hamas, which unilaterally declared an end to a 6-month-old ceasefire last month, would ignore. "I don't think it does the council any good...to issue statements that aren't going to be observed," Wolff said. "Israel's self-defense is not negotiable."
2009-01-04 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive