France denies veto threat looms over Western Sahara negotiations

French ambassador to the United Nations Gerard Araud speaks to the media after voting on a resolution approving U.N. peacekeepers for Central African Republic, at the U.N. headquarters in New York, April 10, 2014. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France's U.N. envoy on Friday vehemently denied threatening to use its Security Council veto power to block any proposals to have U.N. peacekeepers in Western Sahara monitor the human rights situation in the disputed North African territory.

The denial from French Ambassador Gerard Araud came after the United States circulated a draft resolution that would renew the U.N. mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, but without asking for sustained U.N. human rights monitoring as demanded by rights advocates.