Egypt's FM supports Palestinian UN bid

Cairo will support Palestinian efforts to seek non-member statehood recognition at the United Nations, Egypt's foreign minister said Thursday. Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr said he had several telephone conversations with European Union leaders in recent days, asking them to support the Palestinian bid and to persuade others to follow suit, Israel Radio said. Despite Israeli and American opposition to the move, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a recent Israeli television interview he intends to pursue the non-member status bid at the U.N. later this month. Approval would require a majority vote in the U.N. General Assembly and would recognize the Palestinian Authority as a sovereign state, giving it access to the International Criminal Court. Currently the P.A. has observer status membership, which allows it to speak at U.N. General Assembly meetings, participate in procedural votes, and sponsor and sign resolutions but not vote on them.