Hague:EU withholding position on Palestine bid at UN

The British Foreign Minister William Hague said on Tuesday the European Union was withholding its position on a looming Palestinian bid for UN membership in a bid to force a return to peace talks with Israel. Hague said the 27 EU nations were staying silent on how they would vote on Friday "in order to exert as much pressure on both sides to return to negotiations." The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he is determined to go ahead with the controversial move to force a vote on membership for a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly this week despite mounting international pressure. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet with Abbas on Tuesday, while other European Union foreign ministers are also to try to break the impasse. Hague said in a statement that the "best outcome" was a return to peace talks, adding that seeking full Palestinian membership at the UN Security Council "will just lead to confrontation" and would be vetoed by the United States.