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Last update - 00:06 15/01/2009
Rice: Olmert's claims regarding my Gaza UN resolution vote are 'fiction'
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Gaza, Israel News, Hamas 

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated Washington's contention on Wednesday that its abstention in a key UN Security Council vote on a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip had not left her "embarassed," as was claimed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Olmert's bureau maintained on Wednesday that the outgoing prime minister had correctly described moves that led to a United Nations resolution on a truce in Gaza, despite a United States rejection of his account, Israel Radio reported.


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"I don?t know if the prime minister was ? I hope ? quoted out of context, because the story that I read in the newspaper is fiction," Rice told the U.S.-based news agency Bloomberg on Thursday.

"The President and I talked about the resolution, about the importance of allowing the Council to send a signal even though the United States believed that the resolution was premature," Rice said.

"And I had made very clear that I thought the resolution was premature, and there were also concerns about a resolution that had Israel, a member-state of the United Nations, and Hamas, which is a terrorist organization, you don't ever want there to be any equating those two."

"And so we talked. We talked about abstention as a good option. And I was quite aware of the President?s call to Prime Minister Olmert. Of course, Prime Minister Olmert is not at all aware of what the President said to me. And I repeat, his rendering of this is fiction ? if, in fact, that was his rendering of it. And I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps it's not exactly what he said."

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday flatly rejected Olmert's assertion Monday that he had convinced the Bush administration to abstain from last week's resolution calling for an immediate truce between Israel and Hamas in the coastal strip.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also denied that the abstention embarrassed Rice.

McCormack said the comments attributed to Olmert "are wholly inaccurate as to describing the situation, just 100-percent, totally, completely not true" and suggested that the Israeli government might want to clarify or correct the record.

Olmert said Monday that Rice had been embarrassed by orders from President George W. Bush to abstain from voting on the cease-fire resolution that she was negotiating. Olmert said he had called Bush - and interrupted him at an event in Philadelphia - to ensure the United States did not vote for it.


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  • Egypt tells Hamas it must commit to one year cease-fire in Gaza
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      1.   Olmert lied he said bush stopped his speech which isn`t accurate 12:07  |  Seth 14/01/09
      2.   Who really cares what this liar says.? 12:16  |  M 14/01/09
      3.   Oldmerd is a fool who can`t shut up! 12:21  |  Wise Saba 14/01/09
      4.   Unstable 14:38  |  Baz Mann 14/01/09
      5.   Even if Olmert is telling the truth .... 15:28  |  Charlie 14/01/09
      6.   Quite embarrassing ... 15:40  |  Axel 14/01/09
      7.   Silence is golden 15:43  |  Motic 14/01/09
      8.   The benefit of mindlessly offending allies 16:21  |  Mark Lincoln 14/01/09
      9.   When does this corrupted to the core person 17:21  |  Noura 14/01/09
      10.   Olmert 18:04  |  michael pielet 14/01/09
      11.   yet another instance 19:05  |  Joe 14/01/09
      12.   Olmert go home now! Stop damaging the Jewish nation! 19:41  |  M 14/01/09
      13.   I think Olmert was right 19:49  |  Gaby 14/01/09
      14.   who cares? What a baby 19:56  |  Jon 14/01/09
      15.   Olmert is a bitter buffoon, the faster he disappears, the better 20:36  |  ott 14/01/09
      16.   What an idiot--even a war can`t make Olmert look good 20:38  |  IW 14/01/09
      17.   good 20:39  |  David Scott 14/01/09
      18.   To Micheal Pielet 22:22  |  Arturo 14/01/09
      19.   Mr. Bush, Mr. Olmert, Ms. Rice 6 Gaza 22:44  |  Ricardo Kolbe 14/01/09
      20.   Are you mad that its TRUE? or that he said it? 23:15  |  David 14/01/09
      21.   bad whatever the truth 01:25  |  Don 15/01/09
      22.   A Powerfully Metaphorical statement by olmert 01:49  |  Steve N 15/01/09
      23.   well now the American people really 01:50  |  AR 15/01/09
      24.   Its those damm cigars again. 08:00  |  Stephen. 15/01/09
      25.   To AR 09:02  |  Janet 15/01/09
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