Palestinians to submit again UN Security Council bid

RAMALLAH - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Sunday that he intends to resubmit again a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to schedule an end to the Israeli occupation until 2017.

Abbas said during a rally to support Jerusalem, held in Ramallah, that he launched new intensive contacts with Arab states, mainly with Jordan, to resubmit the bid that also calls for establishing a Palestinian state.

Last week the Palestinians failed to gain the support of the minimum nine state members in the UN Security Council to pass the Arab-backed draft resolution which Jordan submitted.

"We held contacts with Arab states, and Jordan to submit the bid again and maybe we resubmit the draft resolution by this week, " said Abbas. "We will keep going to the Security Council until the world recognizes our rights."

The draft resolution needs the in-favor vote of nine state members of the UN Security Council, and if it passes, the Palestinians have no guarantees that the Unites States would veto the resolution.

The resolution calls for scheduling the Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories Israel occupied in 1967 and hold a one-year direct talks that lead to an agreement on establishing an in dependent Palestinian state.

"The Palestinians didn't fail, the Security Council which failed, therefore we decided to go and join all the international treaties and agencies, mainly the International Criminal Court," said Abbas.