US vetoes UN condemnation of Israeli settlements

Foreign Secretary William Hague has called on Israel and the Palestinians to get back round the negotiating table after the US vetoed an Arab-sponsored UN resolution branding Israeli settlements illegal.
The Obama administration's first veto in the United Nations Security Council angered Palestinians and dealt a blow to Washington's efforts to forge a Palestinian state this year.
But Hague urged both sides not to be distracted by the vote or by the wave of unrest sweeping the Middle East from the goal of reviving the peace process.
"I have made clear my serious concern about the current stalemate in the Middle East peace process," said Hague following the vote late Friday.
"We must not be diverted by events in the wider region from working towards a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he added.
"I call on both parties to return as soon as possible to direct negotiations towards a two-state solution, on the basis of clear parameters."
The last round of peace talks broke down late last year after the expiry of an Israeli settlement building moratorium.
Hague pointed out that Britain, one of five permanent Security Council members with the power of a veto, had voted in favour of the UN resolution as settlements were "an obstacle to peace."
Fourteen of the 15 Security Council members voted in favour of the resolution but the US veto effectively killed the move.