Palestinian Leader Insists On Full UN Membership

PARIS (NNN-KUNA) -- Visiting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said here Friday the Palestinian side insisted on going ahead with legal procedures to obtain a full UN membership for Palestine.

Speaking at a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Abbas said he had agreed with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the point that legal and formal procedures have nothing to do with political matters.

Asked about a possible resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the Palestinian leader said Israel is not serious about the pace process as it always fails to observe international legitimacy.

Accusing Israel of going ahead with settlements, he said: "Israel insists on settlement. Over the last couple of weeks, it has stepped up the construction of settlement units involving 2,610 units."

Earlier on Thursday, the Palestinian leader met here US Middle East peace envoys to discuss possible moves to bring both Palestinian and Israeli sides back to the negotiating table.

Abbas is here as part of a Latin America tour to rally up international support for UN membership for Palestine. -- NNN-KUNA