Palestinian bid for UN membership not to be retracted

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that his people will not retract their bid for full membership of the United Nations. Abbas said their efforts towards a member of the world's body is a "legitimate right" and that obstacles put in their way will not stop them. Speaking on a ceremony commemorating late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas said the Palestinians will hold talks with Arab states and groups that support them to carry on the bid. The Palestinians decided to go to the UN after the U.S.- brokered peace talks broke down last year, but they failed to secure unanimous support to their application among members of the Security Council. Abbas reiterated the membership bid doesn't aim at isolating Israel but rather its "aggressive policies." He also said the Palestinian leadership doesn't want to enter a diplomatic war with the Washington. "We are completely aware of America's role in any serious peace process, but we want that role to be balanced," he said, referring to the U.S. partiality to Israel. Meanwhile, Abbas noted the peace negotiations can resume only when Israel stops settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and accept the two-state solution.