The Palestinian Authority’s decision to postpone plans to seek UN membership
next month has angered some Fatah officials in the West Bank.
PA
President Mahmoud Abbas was expected to ask the UN General Assembly this month
to grant non-member status for a Palestinian state in the international body.
Nonmember status does not require the approval of the Security
Council.
In recent weeks, Abbas and other PA officials had stressed that
the PA was determined to renew its bid for recognition of statehood and
membership at the UN despite objections from Israel and the US.
But last
week, PA Foreign Minister Riad Maliki, in a surprise move, announced that Abbas
would not present a request for membership in the UN during his speech before
the General Assembly in late September. The decision to delay the request was
taken following heavy pressure from the US administration and some EU
countries.
Maliki hinted that the statehood bid had been delayed until
after the US presidential election. His announcement drew sharp criticism from
Tawfik Tirawi, a senior member of the Fatah Central Committee and former head of
the PA’s General Intelligence Service in the West Bank.
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