Palestinians to apply for full membership in UN agencies

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Palestinians will apply for full membership of as many United Nations agencies as possible as part of push to advance their national interests, an official said.

According to Reuters, the plan is likely to generate more criticism from the United States, which has pledged to veto a Palestinian request last month for full membership of the United Nations, if it comes to a vote in the Security Council.

The Palestinians have been preparing their drive for membership of the U.N. agencies over the past two years as part of a plan to get ready for statehood, said Omar Awadallah, who heads the UN department at the foreign ministry.

"Our policy is now toward gaining membership of all international organizations, and specialized organizations of the United Nations as a full member," he told Reuters in an interview. "We are not looking for confrontation, we are looking to secure our rights," he said.

The plan advanced last week with a Palestinian application for full membership of the Paris-based UN cultural body UNESCO. The organization's board decided to put the application to a vote in a general assembly meeting later this month.

Opposed by the United States, it was the Palestinians' first application for full membership of a UN agency since President Mahmoud Abbas asked the United Nations in New York to admit Palestine as a full member state on September 23.