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Abbas adamant on UN state move
Source: Agencies |
September 21, 2011, Wednesday
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PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas has told the UN chief he would seek full membership for a Palestinian state at the United Nations, a move the United States and Israel warn could dash hopes of resuming peace talks.
Abbas told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday he will press ahead with plans to ask for a Security Council vote on Friday on Palestinian membership. Washington has threatened to veto any such move.
Ban told Abbas he would send any application submitted to the Security Council and called for the Israelis and Palestinians to resume talks "within a legitimate and balanced framework," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
The Palestinian crisis has overshadowed this week's meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York and sparked hectic talks aimed at averting a confrontation that carries risks for the Palestinians, Israel and the US.
Senior diplomats from the US, Russia, the European Union and the UN - the Quartet of Middle East mediators - are meeting throughout the week in hopes of finding a way forward. The Quartet has for months been trying to put together guidelines for future peace talks, thus far without result.
A senior US official described the talks as "productive" on Monday but said he could not predict whether they will ultimately succeed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to launch direct negotiations but has not made any concession on key issues the Palestinians say prevent talks from resuming.
Abbas acknowledged his decision could have repercussions for his Palestinian Authority, the fragile government-in-waiting that depends on international financial aid for its survival in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. "We decided to take this step and all hell has broken out against us," he said, adding he would not be swayed. "From now until I give the speech, we have only one choice: going to the Security Council. Afterwards, we will sit and decide."
The White House underscored its threat to veto any Palestinian move at the Security Council and said it would focus on trying to nudge the two sides back to negotiations. "We've made our position clear, which is that we oppose actions to achieve a Palestinian state through the United Nations," Obama's deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters.
US-backed talks between Abbas and Netanyahu collapsed nearly a year ago when the Palestinians pulled out after Israel declined to extend a partial moratorium on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.
Abbas told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday he will press ahead with plans to ask for a Security Council vote on Friday on Palestinian membership. Washington has threatened to veto any such move.
Ban told Abbas he would send any application submitted to the Security Council and called for the Israelis and Palestinians to resume talks "within a legitimate and balanced framework," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
The Palestinian crisis has overshadowed this week's meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York and sparked hectic talks aimed at averting a confrontation that carries risks for the Palestinians, Israel and the US.
Senior diplomats from the US, Russia, the European Union and the UN - the Quartet of Middle East mediators - are meeting throughout the week in hopes of finding a way forward. The Quartet has for months been trying to put together guidelines for future peace talks, thus far without result.
A senior US official described the talks as "productive" on Monday but said he could not predict whether they will ultimately succeed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to launch direct negotiations but has not made any concession on key issues the Palestinians say prevent talks from resuming.
Abbas acknowledged his decision could have repercussions for his Palestinian Authority, the fragile government-in-waiting that depends on international financial aid for its survival in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. "We decided to take this step and all hell has broken out against us," he said, adding he would not be swayed. "From now until I give the speech, we have only one choice: going to the Security Council. Afterwards, we will sit and decide."
The White House underscored its threat to veto any Palestinian move at the Security Council and said it would focus on trying to nudge the two sides back to negotiations. "We've made our position clear, which is that we oppose actions to achieve a Palestinian state through the United Nations," Obama's deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters.
US-backed talks between Abbas and Netanyahu collapsed nearly a year ago when the Palestinians pulled out after Israel declined to extend a partial moratorium on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.
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