Palestinians slammed Sunday the U.S. veto against the appointment of former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to head a UN mission in Libya.

Member of Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee Hanan Ashrawi described the U.S. position as "a case of blatant discrimination on the basis of national identity."

She said in an emailed press statement Saturday that the step is "unacceptable."

Salam Fayyad refused to comment on the news.

Palestinian journalist Farah Aloul said it is clear that the U.S. step is against Fayyad's national identity, especially that it was praised by Israel's UN representative Danny Dannon.

Ramallah based economist Faris Arouri said that this case shows that "the U.S. still refuses to deal with Palestine as a UN member, while it clearly adopts the Israeli position negating the presence of Palestinians in international platforms."

Fayyad served as Palestinian Prime Minister between 2003 and 2013.

source: Xinhua