US appealing to Palestinians to avoid UN vote
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Xinhua, September 5, 2011
The Obama administration is launching the last-ditch diplomatic effort, trying to convince the Palestinians not to seek a vote for their statehood at the United Nations (UN), U.S. media reported on Sunday.
However, some senior U.S. officials and foreign diplomats said that the effort might be too late, according to a New York Times story.
The story said, in order to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to give up a bid to seek a vote at the UN, the Obama administration had proposed new talks between Israelis and Palestinians. The peace negotiations between the two parties collapsed shortly after the talks resumed in Washington last September.
The U.S. had made it clear that it will veto any request to accept a Palestinian state as a new UN member, as Israel is one of its most important allies and the Jewish state has a substantial influence on the U.S. politics.
But experts said that a potential veto by the U.S. would likely inflame the anti-America sentiment in the Muslim population and further alienate an already turbulent Arab world.
Furthermore, a U.S. veto can not halt a symbolic vote at the UN General Assembly starting in New York from Sept. 20.
Nabil Shaath, a Palestinian negotiator, said on Sunday that he expected 140 countries will support a Palestinian state in a UN vote later this month. Media reports said that the U.S. and only a handful of other countries were expected to be in the opposition.
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