BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PLO negotiator Muhammad Ishtayya said Monday that the US and other foreign nations are pressing the Palestinian leadership to suspend their campaign for membership of UN bodies until after the US presidential election.
Ishtayya told official PA radio Voice of Palestine that the leadership has initiated the process of obtaining a UN General Assembly resolution which recognizes a Palestinian state on borders prior to Israel's occupation in 1967.
Palestinian officials have opened talks with Arab states and France to get the process started, he said.
Paris broke from its allies in October when it backed Palestinian efforts to become a full member of UNESCO, the UN's cultural arm and the first UN agency to grant the Palestinians full membership.
The US cut off funds to UNESCO after the vote to admit Palestine last year, and earlier cut Palestinian aid after President Mahmoud Abbas made a bid for recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations Security Council. more
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