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http://www.maannews.net Al-Malki: Gabon to vote in favor of UN bid
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The Gabonese Republic is set to endorse the Palestinian bid for statehood in the UN Security Council, a Palestinian Authority official said Sunday. The foreign minister in the West Bank government Riyad al-Malki told Ma'an that Gabon has "historically been supporting the Palestinian cause." "We have recently held several meetings with Gabonese officials including the country’s president Ali Bongo Ondimba who asserted that his country would continue to support the Palestinian right to statehood," al-Malki said. Abbas presented the statehood application to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, a move condemned by Israel and its main ally, the United States. The application now faces a Security Council vote. Six current Security Council members -- Brazil, China, India, Lebanon, Russia and South Africa -- have publicly indicated their backing for the Palestinian bid. In early October, Fatah central committee member Nabil Shaath said that nine countries in the Security Council were committed to supporting Palestine's bid for membership in the UN. Shaath told Ma'an that "the nine states that have confirmed voting to us, and we do not question their stance, are the following: Gabon, Bosnia, Brazil, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, South Africa, China and Russia." Four new temporary members -- Pakistan, Morocco, Togo and Guatemala -- were elected on Friday to the UN Security Council for 2012 and 2013, with the fifth seat tied between Azerbaijan and Slovenia and thus adjourned until Monday. Israeli daily Haaretz said the new members were likely to be more supportive of the US and less inclined to support a Palestinian vote, citing diplomats in New York. However, Lebanon, Nigeria, Gabon, Bosnia and Brazil do not come off the council until January 2012. Last week, diplomats said that the quest for UN membership was likely to come to a head around November 11, when Security Council ambassadors plan a final meeting to decide their response. "The 11th (of November) will probably be the end of the Security Council consideration process, one way or the other," a senior council diplomat said following a meeting of envoys. Diplomats currently expect eight council members to back the Palestinians and six to vote against or abstain. There is uncertainty over Bosnia, the three members of whose collective presidency -- Muslim, Serb and Croat -- disagree over which way to vote, diplomats say. If the application fails in the council, the Palestinians could ask the General Assembly to upgrade their status to "nonmember state" observer, which would not require council endorsement. That would imply UN recognition of statehood and could help the PLO join international bodies.
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