LOC20:49
17:49 GMT
CAIRO, Dec 18 (KUNA) -- The Arab League on Thursday voiced hope that Washington will not use the veto power against a Palestinian draft resolution at the UNSC aiming to end the Israeli occupation.
The potential US veto is likely to harm the Palestinian cause and allow Jewish extremists to carry on with settlement plans and sabotaging the peace process, the League's Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and Occupied Arab Territories Affairs Mohammad Subeih warned.
"We hope the US will set fresh criteria and measurements to get out of this crisis, otherwise it will drag on for years," Subeih told reporters.
More frustration and despair are likely to stoke tension in the region, he warned.
Subeih pointed to other alternatives the Palestinians could resort to, as defined by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Arab Foreign Ministers meeting on November 29, namely going to international institutions. These include the International Criminal Court.
In the meantime, the Arab League senior official lauded efforts by Secretary of State John Kerry to realize peace in the Mideast.
For Subeih, Kerry is the US state secretary who exerted the greatest efforts for peace, which brought him under attacks by Israeli officials who insist on settlements and reject the two-state solution.
He noted that these officials practise pressure on Abbas, carrying on with threats to render the two-state solution failure. (end)
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