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Rescue workers waiting at the site of a shooting attack at a Jerusalem Yeshiva on Thursday. (AP)

Last update - 07:16 07/03/2008
U.S. accuses Libya of blocking UN condemnation of J'lem attack
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Corresponent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Palestinians, terrorism

The United States accused Libya on Thursday of preventing the United Nations Security Council from condemning as a "terrorist attack" a deadly assault on a Jewish school in Jerusalem, but Tripoli called for "balanced action".

The United States had drafted a statement that was discussed at an emergency UN Security Council session, called to debate an attack by a Palestinian gunman who killed at least eight people and wounded more at an Israeli religious school.

"The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that took place in Jerusalem March 6, 2008 which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Israeli civilians," said the draft statement.
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The U.S. delegation had hoped the 15-nation council would unanimously support the text but Libya, backed by several other council members, prevented its adoption.

"We were not able to come to an agreement because the Libyan delegation with the support of one or two others did not want to condemn this act by itself but wanted to link it to other issues," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters after the council meeting.

The Libyans wanted to include in the statement language condemning the recent Israeli incursions into Gaza, which have killed over 120 Palestinians, many of them civilians.

Khalilzad rejected this. He said killing students in a school was different from the unintentional killing of civilians, as was the case with Gaza.

Dan Gillerman, the ambassador of Israel, which is not on the council, had harsh words for Libya. He referred to it as the country responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed some 270 people.

"Unfortunately, this is what happens when the Security Council is infiltrated by terrorists," he said, referring to the council's failure to adopt the U.S. statement.

Libya's deputy ambassador, Ibrahim al-Dabbashi, dismissed Gillerman's attack. "We don't need a certificate of good conduct from the Israeli terrorist regime," he said.

He also said the council should not speak about the Jerusalem attack while ignoring the Gaza situation.

"If the council should take any action, it should be a balanced action and should condemn the killing in Gaza as well as the killing in Jerusalem," al-Dabbashi said.

Meanwhile, Israel said it would continue with U.S.-backed peace talks with the Palestinians despite a terrorist attack at a Jerusalem yeshiva that killed eight people.

"These terrorists are trying to destroy the chances of peace but we certainly will continue the peace talks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said.

For his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the shooting attack.

"President Mahmoud Abbas condemns the attack in Jerusalem that claimed the lives of many Israelis and he reiterated his condemnation of all attacks that target civilians, whether they are Palestinians or Israelis," said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat.

In Gaza, Hamas welcomed the terrorist attack. "We bless the [Jerusalem] operation. It will not be the last," Hamas said in a statement.

United States President George W. Bush late Thursday condemned the terror attack saying "I condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack in Jerusalem that targeted innocent students at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva. This barbaric and vicious attack on innocent civilians deserves the condemnation of every nation."

He later called Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to "extend my deepest condolences to the victims, their families and to the people of Israel. I told him the United States stands firmly with Israel in the face of this terrible attack."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also condemned the attack, calling it an "act of terror and depravity."

Rice said she spoke with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to express U.S. condolences to the people of Israel and the families of the victims of the Thursday night attack against rabbinical students in Jerusalem.

"The United States condemns tonight's act of terror and depravity," Rice said in a statement. "This barbarous act has no place among civilized peoples and shocks the conscience of all peace loving nations. There is no cause that could ever justify this action."

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton also condemned the events.

?My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families who are suffering the loss and horror of this despicable act of terrorism. The United States and the international community must make clear that such deplorable acts of terrorism will not be tolerated and we must continue to stand with Israel in its fight against terror,? she said.

Her rival candidate Senator Barack Obama also condemned the attack, saying that he strongly condemns "this cowardly and outrageous attack. The United States must strongly support Israel's right and capability to defend itself. Today, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and with the Israeli people who defeat these terrorists every single day that they go about their daily lives."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said "the reports tonight of killings at a seminary in Jerusalem are shocking. They add to the toll of civilian life lost in recent days. They are an arrow aimed at the heart of the Peace Process so recently revived. They should and will be deplored by all decent people everywhere."

"No words can provide comfort for the families. The only way to honor the memory of those who have died is to build a Middle East free from the power of the gun through a political process in which the peaceful majority drive out the murderous minority," he added.

"I have tonight spoken to the Israeli Foreign Minister and passed on my deepest condolences to her. I set out the solidarity of the British people with the shocked citizens of Israel and recommitted the British Government to work with all those committed to peaceful means and peaceful goals in the Middle East," he concluded.

In Gaza City, residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in
celebration in the air after hearing news of the attack on the yeshiva.

"Those celebrating this massacre are enemies of peace and coexistence," said David Baker, a government spokesman. "Much like the Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, this is an indiscriminate attack against Israeli civilians."

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski told Channel 2 television, "It's very sad tonight in Jerusalem - many people were killed in the heart of Jerusalem."

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday also condemned the attack.

Members of the UN Security Council convened for an urgent meeting to discuss the attack later Thursday.

"The secretary general condemns in the strongest terms today's savage attack on a Jewish seminary in west Jerusalem, and the deliberate killing and injuring of civilians," a UN statement said. "He extends his condolences to the families of those killed."

"The secretary general is deeply concerned at the potential for continued acts of violence and terrorism to undermine the political process, which he believes must be pursued to achieve a secure and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution," the statement said.