Abbas vows UN membership amid diplomatic tussle

Washington calls Abbas's move 'counterproductive.'

President Mahmud Abbas has promised Palestinians he will seek UN membership before the Security Council next week amid mounting opposition from Israel and the US.

With Washington calling the move “counterproductive,” Abbas told Palestinians in a televised address yesterday: “It is our legitimate right to demand the full membership of the state of Palestine in the UN.”

Today,Europe joined the diplomatic tussle,calling for a “constructive solution” on Palestinian statehood and a resumption of negotiations with Israel.

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“We continue to believe that a constructive solution that allows for the resumption of negotiations is the best and only way to deliver the peace and two-state solution the

Palestinian people want,” said Jaja Cocijanic,spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

But Nabil Shaath,a member of the Palestinian delegation to the UN,dismissed the EU stance,saying,”I do not think there was a chance for the Quartet (US,Russia,European Union,United Nations) to change position” at a Sunday meeting in New York.

He told a news conference today,”There were discussions led by the Americans to persuade Tony Blair,the Quartet’s special Middle East envoy,to publish a statement calling for the resumption of negotiations.”

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This encouraged the Palestinians to go to the Security Council,he said.

Russia has said it will vote in favour of the Palestinian move,and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton phoned her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Friday to discuss “certain issues of the Middle East situation,” including the Palestinian bid,the Foreign Ministry said in Moscow.

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