Abbas: Palestinians to apply for full UN membership

President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday Palestinians intend asking the United Nations for full membership of a Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders. "We are going to the Security Council. This is our decision," he said in a televised address Friday evening. "We are going to the UN to demand our legitimate right and that is to gain full membership for the state of Palestine and to live like the rest of the people in this world as the state of Palestine on the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital." Abbas is due to address the UN General Assembly on September 23, and said that "once I finish my speech, I will submit the application to the Secretary General so that he will give it to the president of the Security Council." Membership of the world body must be recommended by the 15-member council, before the 193-member UN General Assembly can vote to accept a new state. The Palestinian leader made no mention of going to the General Assembly to gain acceptance as a non-member state, as a second-best option if the Security Council vote on membership failed to pass. Instead he said simply that "as for the other options, we will come back after that to discuss (them.)" Abbas said that the UN bid did not come at the expense of negotiations, which could begin afterwards and deal with the core issues of the conflict, such as borders, Palestinian refugees and their descendants, and East Jerusalem. "We will come back to negotiate, but we want to be full members of the UN," he said. "But if we get recognition, then it is recognition that our state is occupied, and not disputed? Our negotiations will be between a state that is independent and one that is occupied." Abbas warned against undue optimism, stressing that "we are not going to get independence." "We should not underestimate the obstacles that will be facing us. If we succeed, we should know that the occupation is not going to end the next day," he pointed out.