U.S. makes U-turn on U.N. Gaza vote

Asked whether he thought Bush had ordered Rice to change the U.S. vote at the last minute, he said, "I don't know."

Rice had also consulted with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert four or five times throughout the day, a senior U.S. official said earlier.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said he was very disappointed by the U.S. abstention and feared Israel would not abide by the ceasefire resolution but instead continue pounding Gaza the next few days.

"We had expected that all countries would vote in favor and we are not really happy. We expected something more," he told reporters after the vote.

Despite abstaining, Rice expressed strong U.S. support for the text of the resolution and its goals. A U.S. veto of the resolution would have killed it.

"I believe in doing so (adopting the resolution), the council has provided a roadmap for a sustainable, durable peace in Gaza," said Rice.

Britain, which led the drafting of the resolution, declined to publicly criticize the United States.

Asked whether he was disappointed by the U.S. change of heart, Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "You can ask me about our vote. We only talk about our vote."

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)