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22:16 GMT
WASHINGTON, April 18 (KUNA) -- The United States vetoed Thursday a UN Security Council resolution recommending the UN General Assembly to hold a vote with the broader UN membership to allow Palestine to join as a full UN Member State.
Twelve of the 15 Council members voted in favor of the draft resolution, two abstained (the United Kingdom and Switzerland) and the US member was on the only member that voted against.
For a draft resolution to pass, the Council must have at least nine members in favor and none of its permanent members - China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States - using their veto power.
Speaking at the UN Security Council session, Algerian Minister for Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad Ahmed Attaf stressed the failure to implement the "historic and legitimate right" of the Palestinian people to create an independent State, recognized by the international community 76 years ago, is the main cause of this prolonged conflict.
He called for granting it full membership within the Organization. Doing so will consolidate the two-State solution, safeguard the future Palestinian State, and build the peace process on solid foundations.
"This is our legal duty, a political duty and a security duty, a duty at the scale of humanity and civilization," he stated.
Palestine had submitted a request to the Secretary-General on 2 April, asking that a 2011 request to become a UN Member State be reconsidered.
In 2011, the Security Council considered the request but was not able to find unity in sending a recommendation to the General Assembly, which according to the UN Charter must hold a vote involving its 193 Member States.
Earlier this month, the Security Council sent the latest request to its Committee on the Admission of Member States, which met on 8 and 11 April to discuss the matter.
Palestine has been a Permanent Observer at the UN since 2012, before which it was an observer in the UN General Assembly. (end)
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