Abbas to tell U.S. president UN bid boosts peace

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will try to persuade U.S. President Barack Obama that the Palestinian bid for UN membership aims at boosting peace with Israel, a senior Palestinian diplomat said Wednesday. Abbas is to deliver his remarks to Obama when they meet later on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York amid an increasing controversy over the Palestinian intention to apply for the world body's membership. Abbas is expected tell Obama that the Palestinians are pushing to enforce a solution with Israel based on establishing two states, said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, in an interview with the Voice of Palestine radio from New York. The Obama administration wants the Palestinian state to be born via peace talks with Israel, however, a U.S.-brokered round of negotiations broke down last year, when Israel resumed building in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Back in New York, Erekat said he had met David Hale, the U.S. Middle East envoy, and Tony Blair, the representative of the Middle East Quartet of peace mediators. The Quartet, which comprises the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, plans to issue a statement on the eve of the Palestinian bid for the UN membership. The Palestinians have no problem with the Quartet issuing a statement, but it must emphasize on halting the settlement activities and refer to the 1967 lines as the basis of a renewed round of negotiations with Israel, Erekat said. Abbas is set to submit the Palestinian request to the UN Security Council on Friday, after he delivers a speech before the General Assembly.