BICOM

Conflicting comments from Palestinian officials yesterday added to the growing atmosphere of uncertainty surrounding the Palestinian statehood bid. Nabil Shaath, a senior and veteran Fatah official, said that while the Palestinians would present their statehood bid to the UN Security Council on Friday, some time would then be given to the UNSC to consider the request before the Palestinians headed to the General Assembly. Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, later appeared to counter this statement, saying that Abbas had no plans to agree to a delayed vote in the Security Council. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe also said yesterday that it would probably be ‘several weeks’ before a vote is held in the UNSC, and that this will allow time to ‘develop a strategy.’

It currently looks likely that PA President Abbas will present the bid in writing to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday. There is no current timetable for when a subsequent vote on the bid would be held in the UNSC.

Further reading, BICOM spotlight: UN Vote on Palestinian statehood