Abbas in Paris to push for UN membership
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Xinhua, October 15, 2011
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met on Friday his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris to collect enough support for a seat in the United Nations.
The Franco-Palestinian meeting "... focused on reviving the peace process ... and France's efforts in this context following the President's proposal during the UN general assembly", the Elysee Palace said on its website without giving further details.
Last Month, French head of state had called for an intermediate status of "observer state" for Palestine in the United Nations during the General Assembly on Sept. 21.
"Israel seems determined to continue the settlement, until now there have been 2,600 bids for the construction of housing, at least over the last two weeks. This shows that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu does not respect the international law and does not want peace", local media quoted Abbas as saying.
The Palestinian president hoped France "to do more and more and more in the peace process."
During the two-day visit, Abbas is scheduled to meet the U.S. envoy to Middle East David Hale in a bid to shed more light on the status-quo of peace talks in the Middle East and to discuss Palestine request of UN membership.
Palestinian authority asked the international community to recognize Palestine as a full member of the UN. The Security Council is considering the request but the United States menaces to use the veto.
Direct negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli officials have hit a deadlock since 2008 after an Israeli military raid devastated Gaza strip to halt rocket fires from the enclave ruled by the Hamas movement.
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