Obama warns 'no short-cut' to Palestine membership bid
European Union negotiators have proposed a timeline for securing a Palestinian-Israeli accord.
UNITED NATIONS:
Senior Palestinian officials insisted Wednesday that the only path to Middle East peace was an end to the Israeli occupation, after US President Barack Obama said there were no short cuts.
They also accused Obama of being inconsistent in praising the Arab Spring pro-democracy movements sweeping the Middle East, while calling on the Palestinians to return to the negotiations.
"There is a wide gap between the praise for the Arab peoples' fight for freedom and the abstract call for negotiations without any clear basis between us and the Israelis," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
"We are waiting to hear that the freedom of the Palestinian people is the principle key to the Arab Spring and to freedom, which must include the Palestinian people."
Obama warned in his speech to the UN General Assembly that there was "no short cut" to Middle East peace, amid frantic diplomatic efforts to head off a Palestinian drive for the United Nations to recognize Palestine as a full member state.
"The end of the Israeli occupation and a Palestinian state are the only path to peace," Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, told AFP shortly after Obama's speech.
"We will agree to return to the negotiations the minute that Israel agrees to end the settlements and the lines of 1967," he added.
Straight after his speech, Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was to meet with Abbas later in the day.
EU for definitive deadline for securing Palestine-Israel peace
European Union negotiators have proposed a timeline for securing a Palestinian-Israeli accord in talks with the two sides, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
The timeline - starting with renewing negotiations within a month and ending with a full accord in the next year - was also raised Wednesday by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy.
EU foreign affairs representative Catherine Ashton has been proposing the timeline during talks this week with Palestinian, Israeli and US officials, diplomatic sources said.
US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian talks have been frozen for the past year, since Israel ended a moratorium on settlement building in the occupied territories. The frustrated Palestinian leadership has said it will now apply for full UN membership on Friday.
Sarkozy told the UN General Assembly there should be an accord that sets out "one month to resume discussions, six months to find an agreement on borders and security; and one year to reach a definitive agreement."
International leaders are seeking to head off a diplomatic showdown over the Palestinian application with the United States threatening to veto any bid for full membership.
International community supports membership bid
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on Wednesday threw his country's backing behind the Palestinian drive for full UN membership as a state.
"It is important to underscore the rightful Palestinian efforts aiming at earning the recognition of the state of Palestine and its full membership to the United Nations," Sleiman told the UN General Assembly.
"Lebanon will back these efforts in order for the latter to succeed with the coordination and cooperation of brotherly and friendly countries," Sleiman added.
Lebanon, Israel's northern neighbour, is a non-permanent member and currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council.
President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, which is also a current non-permanent member of the Security Council, earlier called for a state of Palestine to be fully represented at the United Nations.
The Lebanese and Brazilian stands challenge US efforts to prevent the Palestinians from obtaining the nine of the 15 UN Security Council votes needed to approve their request, to be made Friday, to become a full member UN state.
Diplomats said such a majority is not guaranteed. No vote is yet planned in the Security Council which will first have to examine any application.
Senior Palestinian officials insisted Wednesday that the only path to Middle East peace was an end to the Israeli occupation, after US President Barack Obama said there were no short cuts.
They also accused Obama of being inconsistent in praising the Arab Spring pro-democracy movements sweeping the Middle East, while calling on the Palestinians to return to the negotiations.
"There is a wide gap between the praise for the Arab peoples' fight for freedom and the abstract call for negotiations without any clear basis between us and the Israelis," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
"We are waiting to hear that the freedom of the Palestinian people is the principle key to the Arab Spring and to freedom, which must include the Palestinian people."
Obama warned in his speech to the UN General Assembly that there was "no short cut" to Middle East peace, amid frantic diplomatic efforts to head off a Palestinian drive for the United Nations to recognize Palestine as a full member state.
"The end of the Israeli occupation and a Palestinian state are the only path to peace," Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, told AFP shortly after Obama's speech.
"We will agree to return to the negotiations the minute that Israel agrees to end the settlements and the lines of 1967," he added.
Straight after his speech, Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was to meet with Abbas later in the day.
EU for definitive deadline for securing Palestine-Israel peace
European Union negotiators have proposed a timeline for securing a Palestinian-Israeli accord in talks with the two sides, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
The timeline - starting with renewing negotiations within a month and ending with a full accord in the next year - was also raised Wednesday by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy.
EU foreign affairs representative Catherine Ashton has been proposing the timeline during talks this week with Palestinian, Israeli and US officials, diplomatic sources said.
US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian talks have been frozen for the past year, since Israel ended a moratorium on settlement building in the occupied territories. The frustrated Palestinian leadership has said it will now apply for full UN membership on Friday.
Sarkozy told the UN General Assembly there should be an accord that sets out "one month to resume discussions, six months to find an agreement on borders and security; and one year to reach a definitive agreement."
International leaders are seeking to head off a diplomatic showdown over the Palestinian application with the United States threatening to veto any bid for full membership.
International community supports membership bid
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on Wednesday threw his country's backing behind the Palestinian drive for full UN membership as a state.
"It is important to underscore the rightful Palestinian efforts aiming at earning the recognition of the state of Palestine and its full membership to the United Nations," Sleiman told the UN General Assembly.
"Lebanon will back these efforts in order for the latter to succeed with the coordination and cooperation of brotherly and friendly countries," Sleiman added.
Lebanon, Israel's northern neighbour, is a non-permanent member and currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council.
President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, which is also a current non-permanent member of the Security Council, earlier called for a state of Palestine to be fully represented at the United Nations.
The Lebanese and Brazilian stands challenge US efforts to prevent the Palestinians from obtaining the nine of the 15 UN Security Council votes needed to approve their request, to be made Friday, to become a full member UN state.
Diplomats said such a majority is not guaranteed. No vote is yet planned in the Security Council which will first have to examine any application.