Admit Palestine as non-member state: Sarkozy

United Nations: French President Nicolas Sarkozy called today on the United Nations to admit Palestine as a non-member state, upgrading its status as simple observer but opposing a Palestinian bid for full membership. In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Sarkozy also called for “one year to reach a definitive agreement” between Israel and the Palestinians, saying the usual US-led peace process should not bypass European, Arab or other countries. [caption id=“attachment_89433” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Sarkozy sought a middle road between Palestine’s demands and US’s opposition to it. AFP”] [/caption] Aiming to avoid a showdown, Sarkozy sought a middle road between the Palestinian plan to ask the UN Security Council to admit Palestine as a full state and the US determination to block the effort with a veto, which he warned would be dangerous. “Each of us knows that Palestine cannot immediately obtain full and complete recognition of the status of United Nations member state. The first reason for this is the lack of trust between the main parties,” Sarkozy said. “But who could doubt that a veto at the Security Council risks engendering a cycle of violence in the Middle East?” the French leader said. “Must we therefore exclude an intermediate stage? Why not envisage offering Palestine the status of United Nations observer state? This would be an important step forward,” Sarkozy said. “Most important, it would mean emerging from a state of immobility that favours only the extremists. We would be restoring hope by marking progress towards the final status.” Under UN rules, any bid for full membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council and then a two-thirds majority in the 193-member General Assembly. Non-member status would require only a straight majority in the General Assembly where no veto is possible. It would also give the Palestinians access to international organisations like the World Health Organisation and perhaps the International Criminal Court. However, Sarkozy appeared to urge the Palestinians not to pursue Israel in the court when he said “they could commit to avoid using this new status to undertake actions incompatible with the continuance of negotiations.” Sarkozy also called for greater involvement of the international community in the peace process, suggesting the process led by the United States, the top ally of Israel, was leading nowhere. He appeared to suggest that the role of the Diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East, composed of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, was not enough to find a peaceful settlement. PTI