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| By Israel Insider staff June 9, 2007 |
| Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad |
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Indonesia and Qatar were to blame for the delay of a proposed United Nations Security Council statement censuring comments by Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that forecast the destruction of Israel.
Ahmadinejad said in a speechon Sunday that Lebanese and Palestinians had pressed a "countdown button" to bring an end to the "Zionist regime," adding: "By God's will, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future".
France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, who initiated the statement of condemnation, said that "one delegation [identified by other diplomats as Qatar] did not have instructions," while "another delegation had reservations and is going to report back to its capital." That country was Indonesia.
Unlike a resolution, a statement by the council has to be unanimous, thus giving veto power to each of the 15 member countries.
Sabliere said he would not give up and would try again on Monday.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who supported the statement, told reporters: "A statement by a head of state calling for or implying the destruction of a member state of the United Nations is, as a matter of principle, unacceptable" and threatens "international peace and security."
A UN statement said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "was shocked and dismayed at the remarks attacking Israel attributed to [Ahmadinejad], in which he says repeatedly that the world could witness the 'destruction of the Zionist regime' soon."
Ban, currently in Germany for the Group of Eight summit, "points out that the State of Israel is a full and long-standing member of the United Nations with the same rights and obligations as every other member," it said. "He reminds that under the United Nations Charter, all members have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State."
Ahmadinejad triggered outrage in the West two years ago when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map." He has since referred often to the destruction of the Jewish state but also says Iran is not a threat. |
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