By Salwa Jendoubi
UNITED NATIONS, July 9 (KUNA) -- Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour late Friday expressed hope that the Security Council will grant UN membership to the Palestinian State as swiftly as it is planning to grant UN membership to South Sudan next week.
The Security Council is scheduled to recommend to the General Assembly next Wednesday admission of South Sudan as the Organisation's 193rd Member State. The General Assembly is scheduled to act on that recommendation the following day Thursday.
South Sudan will officially declare its independence from Sudan Saturday, and submit a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday seeking UN membership.
"The whole process will be shorter than a week from independence to full admission to the UN. It is an interesting exercise and hope that this kind of atmosphere of granting membership to new states include the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine," Mansour told KUNA.
"It is obvious," he added, that "this kind of method is not following the time constraint stipulated in the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council, but we understand that these issues are political issues and the procedure will conform to the political will." The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been saying that if the impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian talks continues, it will seek UN recognition and membership this September. The US, however, threatened to veto any such attempt in the Council.
It seems the PA has reversed its position, even though Mansour would not address it directly. "When the time comes for our admission, we believe that what we will need is a political will in the Security Council and soon to allow the Palestinian people to have their rightful place as a full member in the UN, especially that we now have close to two-thirds majority of the UN members recognizing the State of Palestine," he noted "And we hope that this enthusiasm about South Sudan will spill over, so that we the Palestinian people and our State will enjoy similar festive mood and succeed in ending the occupation and becoming a full UN member," he added.
Asked when the Palestinian Authority will send a letter to the Secretary-General requesting UN membership, Mansour said "when we are ready. When we feel that the moment is right and when the situation is ripe." He added "We are ready. We just want to make sure the Council is ready too. When it is ready, then hopefully it will happen as fast as in the case of South Sudan." He denied that July 15th is the deadline for the PA to submit its request for UN membership if it wants it to be processed in September, giving the admission of South Sudan as an example.
Asked if the PA will seek in September only recognition from the General Assembly to use as a moral pressure on the Council, Mansour said "we have many options, but it is not right for us now to engage with the media to talk about the details of these options." On the Quartet meeting scheduled for Monday in Washington D.C., Mansour said "we hope that it will rise to the occasion, because it is a historic moment, adopt appropriate parameters and invite the two parties to negotiate within a limited time, a peace treaty that will end the occupation and allow for our independence." "If they (Quartet) do that, I am confident that the Palestinian side will be ready to participate if the Israeli side accepts such basis and the timetable to negotiate such a treaty," he insisted.
"If there is a political will and if Israel comes to negotiate in good faith, we could reach an agreement in a few months. It could be before the end of September, yes," he added.
He argued that the PA finished building the institutions of a State within two years, as required by the UN, the Quartet and the European Union.
He said that after this achievement and after recognition of a Palestinian State by some 130 Member States, the PA "expects the UN to legislate such new realities so that we can open doors for reaching a peace treaty." The Quartet groups the UN, US, EU and Russia.
On the news that the UN report on flotilla 1 has been delayed, Mansour said "we support Turkey's position which is demanding compensation and an apology from Israel for crimes" committed against nine Turkish peace activists. The Israeli side is refusing to do so, that's why the panel probing the incident that took place in May 2010 in international waters is delaying the release of the report. Both Turkey and Israel are among the Panel's members.
He said that as long as there is this "illegal, immoral and awful" blockade against 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, there will be efforts by many activists to try to show solidarity with "our people" there and try to lift the siege on the Strip.
The radical solution to flotilla 2 and air flotillas, he insisted, is lifting the siege on Gaza. (end) sj.mt KUNA 090912 Jul 11NNNN