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Late rush to stop Abbas bid at UN

September 15, 2011 12:37
The UN headquarters in New York

By

Anshel Pfeffer,

Anshel Pfeffer

1 min read

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to deliver a speech today in which he is expected to announce the Palestinian Authority's finalintentions regarding the UN General Assembly at the end of the month.

Mr Abbas has been under intense diplomatic pressure from all sides in recent days over his decision.

Despite reports that the Palestinians had already decided to ask the UN to vote in favour of recognising an independent state, the Qatari envoy to the UN, Nassir Abdulaziz, who is also the president of this year's General Assembly, said on Wednesday that he had yet to receive an official request on behalf of the Palestinians and that, as far as he knew, they were still undecided.

While most Israeli diplomats had already given up on the issue, Quartet envoy Tony Blair, EU foreign affairs representative Catherine Ashton and senior American diplomats Denis Ross and David Hale were shuttling between Jerusalem and Ramallah this week to try to work out a last-minute compromise.

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