The United States has once again become isolated as it vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on foreign ISIL terrorists, while the other 14 council members voted in favor of the resolution.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, said the draft text aiming to reinforce international action on counterterrorism “was worse than no resolution at all,” Reuters reported.
The US veto highlighted the widening rift between Washington and its allies that have refused to commit to taking back their terrorists since the ISIL terrorist group was vanquished in Syria and Iraq over a year ago.
The United States wants foreign terrorists sent home to be either prosecuted or rehabilitated there.
On the other side, the European states, which have had many nationals fighting for terrorist groups like ISIL, have been reluctant to bring them home, citing concerns about a public backlash and the risk of fresh attacks on European soil.
Some European countries, including France and Belgium, have adopted a case-by-case approach to repatriating the children or even wives of terrorists held in the Middle East, AFP said.
Craft said that “It [the resolution] fails to even include a reference to the crucial first step – repatriation to countries of origin or nationality.”
Thousands of foreign terrorists from dozens of countries are being held in Iraqi and Syria. Tens of thousands of Syrian and foreign women and children – family members of suspected terrorists – are also held in camps.
The US veto comes after the Europeans, earlier this month, rejected a US draft resolution that aimed to extend an arms embargo on Iran, as part of a US effort to re-establish international sanctions on Tehran.
Also, last week Indonesia, the UN Security Council president, dismissed Washington’s attempt to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran because 13 members expressed their opposition.
