Defeated in the SecurityCouncil by a US veto, Arab nations have asked the UN GeneralAssembly to demand that Israel back off from athreat to "remove" Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
The 191-nation General Assembly, where Washington has noveto, set an emergency session for tomorrow to take up the request.
A vote in the assembly is likely to show divisions in thequartet of mediators - the United States, Russia, the EuropeanUnion and the United Nations - pressing for Middle East peacevia its road map to Palestinian statehood and a secure Israel.
The United States is certain to vote against anyArab-backed resolution, Russia is likely to vote in favor andthe 15 European Union states are divided after failing today to agree on a common position.
Turning to the General Assembly after a US veto in theSecurity Council is a time-honored tactic for the Arab bloc asit traditionally enjoys strong support there.
While council resolutions on peace and security matters canbe binding on world governments, assembly measures merelyreflect the will of governments around the world, each of whichhas one vote in the body.
The assembly session was demanded by Sudanese AmbassadorElfatih Mohamed Ahmed Erwa, who chairs the Arab group of UNmembers, and Malaysian Ambassador Rastam Mohd Isa, chairman ofthe 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement.
The United States infuriated the Arab world on Tuesday bykilling a resolution in the 15-nation Security Council draftedby Palestinian UN envoy Nasser al-Kidwa and endorsed by Araband nonaligned nations.
The measure demanded that "Israel, the occupying power,desist from any act of deportation and cease any threat to thesafety of the elected president of the Palestinian Authority."
It also called for an end to all acts of violence andincreased efforts to implement the international road map.
Eleven council members voted in favor of the draft whileBritain, Germany and Bulgaria abstained.
US Ambassador John Negroponte said Washington used itsveto because the measure failed to explicitly condemn Hamas,Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade - Palestiniangroups blamed for suicide bombings in Israel.
Palestinian officials later said the United States wasturning its back on the road map and had become a hostage toIsraeli hard-liners.
Israel touched off an international outcry last week when,acting after back-to-back suicide bombings killed 15 Israelis,it announced a decision "to remove" Arafat as an "obstacle topeace," although it did not say how or when it would do so.