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UNSC to hold official meeting Wed on Palestine UN membership bid

Participants in the meeting would refer the matter for consideration to the Committee on Admission of New Members

UNITED NATIONS, September 28 (Itar-Tass) — The UN Security Council (UNSC) is to hold an official meeting on Wednesday to examine Palestine's UN membership bid.

SC President H. E. Mr. Nawaf Salam (Lebanon) told journalists on Monday that participants in the meeting would refer the matter for consideration to the Committee on Admission of New Members. The Committee comprises representatives of all the 15 UNSC member-countries.

Consultations on the question of Palestine's accession to the UN will be held by the Committee in a closed-door mode. So far, no one ventures to predict how many days or weeks the consultations will continue. The consultations are to result in a report with recommendation which the Committee will present to the UNSC in the form of a draft resolution. Support by nine out o fifteen UNSC Members is necessary for the adoption of the resolution, provided none of the five SC Permanent Members (Britain, China, Russia, the United States, and France) vetoes it.

If the UNSC approves recommendation for admission of Palestine to the UN, it will then be referred to the 193-member UN General Assembly (UNGA). In order to admit a new member-state to the UN, it is necessary for two-thirds of voting delegations present in the conference hall to declare in favour of that.

On September 23, Head of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas delivered an official application with a proposal to recognize Palestine's statehood and grant it full UN membership to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. On the same day the Secretary General referred the application to the UNSC which, according to the UN Charter, must examine it and bring up its recommendation at the UNGA.

The US administration repeatedly stated that it would veto the Palestinians' bid for recognition of a state of theirs.

Russia, for its part, intends to support Palestine's UN membership bid.

In the opinion of diplomats of the UNSC member-countries, the examination of Palestine's UN membership bid may continue for weeks, if not months, considering the US attitude .

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