Kuwait blocks U.N. statement criticizing Palestinian leader

"Kuwait blocked the U.N. Security Council on Friday from issuing a U.S.-sponsored statement sharply criticizing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for what Washington called 'vile anti-Semitic slurs and baseless conspiracy theories.'

Kuwait is the Arab representative on the 15-member council and two diplomats said it opposed the press statement on grounds that it was not comprehensive. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because consultations were private.
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The proposed statement, obtained by The Associated Press, would have expressed the Security Council's 'firm and unequivocal rejection of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial' and called on Abbas 'to refrain from anti-Semitic comments.'

The draft would also have recalled 'that anti-Semitism has historically contributed to threats to international peace and security, mass atrocities, and widespread violations of human rights.'

The U.S. circulated the statement Friday as several thousand Palestinians staged a sixth weekly protest on the Gaza-Israel border..."