http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-09/14/c_131136744.htm
GAZA/RAMALLAH, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Foreign Minister Reyad al-Malki told the Voice of Palestine Radio on Tuesday that the official Palestinian application, including a request for a full UN membership of the independent Palestinian state, is ready to be submitted to the UN chief.
"President Mahmoud Abbas will hand the letter to UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon when they meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting on Sept. 20," al-Malki said, adding that any new proposals won't change the Palestinian bid.
The direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel had been stalled since October after Israel refused to halt settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. In response, the Palestinians decided to go to the UN and request an international recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
Malki also said he would meet International Quartet's Special Envoy Tony Blair "soon."
Also on Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is on an official visit to Egypt, held talks in Cairo with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In Gaza, some 110 Palestinian Non-Government Organizations signed on a petition to support the Palestinian attitude of going to the UN to demand an international recognition.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement on the occasion of the 18 years anniversary for signing the Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO) that the ongoing Israeli government's policies of violent repression against the Palestinians, the expansion of settlement as well as the construction of the isolation wall "made Oslo accords not existing anymore."
"I don't believe that applying to the United Nations would compel Israel to end the occupation or the expansion of settlement as well as raids and assassinations, but it would be part of the Palestinian strategy. It is not the end, it is the beginning of the Palestine territories' return," said Erekat.
Islamic Hamas movement, which has been ruling the Gaza Strip since June 2007, called in a press statement for throwing away the Oslo accords, saying that "the accords was the most dangerous event on our people and their legitimate rights."
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110913/166818122.html
20:57 13/09/2011
Hamas lawmakers urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday to abandon his plans to ask the UN to recognize the independence of the Palestinian state.
Hamas lawmakers urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday to abandon his plans to ask the UN to recognize the independence of the Palestinian state.
Abbas confirmed last week he was planning to submit the application on September 19 and expected it to be formally lodged with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on September 21 or 22.
The Hamas faction in the Palestinian Legislative Council issued a statement saying the Palestinian leader should avoid "unilateral steps that could harm the Palestinian cause" and concentrate instead on "consolidating efforts to reach national reconciliation and to resist [Israeli] occupation."
The radical Islamic movement, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and opposes the existence of Israel, has officially refrained from taking a position on statehood.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that the Palestinian bid for UN recognition would "set back peace, and might set it back for years."
Washington has also opposed the UN recognition of a Palestinian state, calling it a unilateral step in a conflict that should be resolved through negotiation. The U.S. administration has made clear that it would veto any Palestinian request to the Security Council for membership as a state.
But a majority at the General Assembly is expected to support the promotion of the Palestinians to the status of non-voting observer state.
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