WASHINGTON, September 17 (AP): President Barack Obama heads to the United Nations next week already looking beyond a potential vote on Palestinian statehood and toward laying the groundwork for the resumption of stalled Middle East peace talks.
Mr. Obama, facing a potentially destabilising diplomatic clash, had hoped to focus his efforts at the meetings of the U.N. General Assembly on boosting the standing of Libya’s former rebel leaders and touting the United Nations’ role in dismantling Muammar Qadhafi’s regime. But success in Libya seems likely to be overshadowed by a Palestinian push for full U.N. membership -- an effort over which Mr. Obama has little influence.
White House officials say it’s still unclear what course the Palestinians will take in New York next week. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that he will ask the U.N. Security Council to endorse his statehood bid, though he said he was open to other unspecified options. The U.S. has pledged to veto the statehood bid, and the Obama administration has senior diplomats in the region making a last-ditch effort to persuade the Palestinians to drop the measure.
Mr. Obama, facing a potentially destabilising diplomatic clash, had hoped to focus his efforts at the meetings of the U.N. General Assembly on boosting the standing of Libya’s former rebel leaders and touting the United Nations’ role in dismantling Muammar Qadhafi’s regime. But success in Libya seems likely to be overshadowed by a Palestinian push for full U.N. membership -- an effort over which Mr. Obama has little influence.
White House officials say it’s still unclear what course the Palestinians will take in New York next week. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that he will ask the U.N. Security Council to endorse his statehood bid, though he said he was open to other unspecified options. The U.S. has pledged to veto the statehood bid, and the Obama administration has senior diplomats in the region making a last-ditch effort to persuade the Palestinians to drop the measure.
