UK ready to back Palestine recognition calls - Foreign Secretary

PanARMENIAN.Net - Britain is ready to back calls at the United Nations for recognition of a Palestinian state if it gives a commitment to an immediate and unconditional return to the negotiating table with Israel, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said, according to Belfast Telegraph.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Hague said he would also be seeking an assurance that the Palestinians would not seek to extend the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the territories before deciding which way to vote in Thursday, November 29 debate at the UN General Assembly.

The move comes after France announced that it was ready to support the resolution to upgrade the Palestinians' status at the UN from observer to non-member observer state.

With the General Assembly dominated by countries sympathetic to the Palestinian cause - and no veto for members of the Security Council - the resolution looks set to be passed, despite the vehement opposition of both Israel and the United States.

The Israelis have already said they will not return to negotiations following the vote, arguing that it would undermine efforts to secure a Middle East peace settlement.

Mr Hague told MPs that he had appealed to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - who he praised as a "courageous man of peace" - not to move the resolution at the General Assembly, but to give the newly re-elected US administration of Barack Obama the chance to launch a fresh peace initiative.