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Mahmoud Abbas plows through with UN Security Council statehood bid
by Joseph Earnest September 15, 2011
Newscast Media HOUSTON, Texas -- In a move that reverses a pledge to Saudi, European and Egyptian officials to hold off on asking the United Nations to recognize as a new state Israel’s occupied Palestinian territories, sources told the middle eastern news website DEBKAfile that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has decided to go through with his application to the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 23 for the admission of a Palestinian state to the world body.
DEBKAfile reports that during his visit to Cairo, Mahmoud Abbas was sternly warned by Saud al Faisal, Ashton and Egyptian leaders of the grave consequences awaiting the Palestinians if he forced the US to exercise its veto against their statehood at the UN Security Council. US President Barack Obama Tuesday made it crystal clear that he "objects very strongly" to the Palestinian statehood motion as "counterproductive" and "a distraction from solving problems that can only be addressed through negotiations."
US sources report that the US President has refused to talk to Abbas for the past eight months owing to his refusal to join Israel for direct peace talks. He was advised by the Europeans, the Saudis and Egyptians this week that the US presidential boycott would almost certainly extend to fellow Palestinian leaders and US financial aid.
The Palestinian Authority would thus be placed under American sanctions. However, if he withdrew his statehood bid from the Security Council and accepted the new position paper, Obama would consider restoring communications.
Tuesday, Sept. 13, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "The
path to creating an independent Palestinian state lies through direct talks
between Ramallah and Jerusalem – not New York," she said. Early Wednesday,
the General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar reported
that the Palestinians had not yet submitted their request to the General
Assembly. It would therefore not come up for debate before October.
DEBKAfile's sources report that while Mahmoud Abbas appears to have been hassled into a partial climb-down from his original plan to bypass talks with Israel by gaining UN approval of Palestinian statehood, he may not have caved in completely. Neither is it clear whether Netanyahu will swallow the new blueprint Tony Blair is about to dish up. Add Comments>>
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