Washington, however, confirmed it would veto any such bid
and an EU source said European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was
to travel to the Middle East next week for talks on the Palestinian push.
The so-called "National Campaign for Palestine: State
194" is part of the build-up to Sept. 20, when President Mahmoud Abbas is
expected to submit a formal request to the United Nations that it accept the
state of Palestine as a member.
Abbas on Thursday met senior Palestinian representatives
including the central committee of his Fatah party, the PLO's executive
committee and leaders of various Palestinian political parties.
The PLO committee "affirms the need to continue at the
next session of the UN, the process to obtain recognition of membership for a
state of Palestine on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its
capital," PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo said in a statement
after the session.
"The Palestinian leadership believes that attaining
this goal will encourage the relaunch of a serious peace process and new
negotiations with the clear objective of a two-state solution on the 1967
borders," he said, referring to the lines that existed before the 1967
Six-Day War.
The leadership meetings came just 10 days before Abbas is
expected to fly to New York where he will present a formal membership request
to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sept. 20.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland
said Washington's opposition to such a move by the Palestinians rather than
direct negotiations with Israel "should not come as a shock."
"So yes, if something comes to a vote in the UN
Security Council, the US will veto," she said.
George Mitchell, the former US special envoy for Middle East
peace, said there was little chance US officials would be able to persuade Palestinian
leaders not to seek greater recognition at the United Nations.
Mitchell, who stepped down in May after more than two years
of fruitless efforts to make peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis,
was downbeat about the odds of making progress in the coming months but more
optimistic over the longer term.
Meanwhile, the EU source in Brussels said that Ashton will
leave early next week for Cairo to meet Arab League officials and Abbas for
talks on the bid, also opposed by Israel.
She will also travel to Israel as part of her efforts to
ensure the Palestinian resolution "can get broader support," the
source added, declining to be named.
If the bid is vetoed in the Security Council, the
Palestinians plan to turn to the General Assembly where they are expected to
easily win the votes needed to upgrade their representation from observer body
to non-member state.
As the leaders met in Ramallah, the official Palestinian
campaign of support for the bid got under way with around 100 people marching
to UN headquarters in the West Bank town to hand in a letter to the UN
representative asking that Ban support the membership application.
The letter said the campaign would continue "until the
state of Palestine is finally admitted as member state number 194."
Chanting "We want a state," the marchers waved
Palestinian flags and held up signs demanding that Palestine be admitted to the
UN and also calling on Arab states to support the bid.
Sweden's Foreign Ministry expressed support for efforts
toward Palestinian statehood as the Scandinavian country held its first
official welcoming ceremony for a Palestinian representative.
Palestinian Ambassador Hala Husni Fariz met Swedish Foreign
Minister Carl Bildt on Thursday.
Like many European countries, Sweden this year upgraded the
status of the Palestinian representation from general delegation to mission.
