Arab peace initiative committee drums Up support for full Palestine UN membership

The ministerial council of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee has decided to pursue Arab contacts with world countries through a sub-committee to canvass support for membership of Palestine at the UN as an independent state within the pre-1967 War borders , with Jerusalem as its capital. The Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al Arabi said at a joint news conference with Saeb Erekat, member of the Executive Committee of the PLO, that the Arab Peace Initiative Committee met last night in Cairo under HE the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor al Thani , in the presence of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and discussed the various aspects of the request which is fully backed by Arab countries and is to be presented to the UN General Assembly to gain full membership of the UN organization. Consultation and contacts will continue to achieve this objective, he said. In reference to remarks of the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Asheton that the EU supports the establishment of a Palestinian state through Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, Al Arabi said there is a wide international support for the Arab efforts. Meanwhile, Erekat lauded the efforts Al Arabi exercised with international blocs, including the Islamic Cooperation Organization, the Non-Aligned Movement and his intensive contacts with China , India, Malaysia , Indonesia, South Africa and Nigeria. He recalled a decision taken at an earlier meeting by the Arab Peace Initiative Committee in Doha to pursue endeavours to gain recognition of the UN membership of a Palestinian state within the pre- 1967 War borders, with Jerusalem as its capital. He explained that the EU wants a Palestinian state agreed by negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He, however, emphasized that the Israeli government has blocked the way of the negotiations, opting for the continuation of the construction of settlements, not the negotiations process. He also noted that asking for full Palestine membership at the UN would not contradict the setting up of a Palestinian state through negotiations, but supports the principle of the two-state solution and the provisions of international law. Erekat urged the US which had supported the two-state solution to reconsider its objection to the Arab move at the UN and to refrain from using its flagged veto power against the full membership of Palestine at the UN. Erekat said the Arabs are now talking in one voice on this issue and are seeking to reaffirm their rights according to relevant UN legitimacy resolutions. The outcome of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee''s meeting will be presented to the 136th Arab ministerial conference scheduled for today at the Arab League and to be presided over by Palestine.