Obama to attend UN General Assembly
US: US President Barack Obama will travel to the United Nations
General Assembly in New York later this month for an annual meeting
likely to be overshadowed by the Palestinian drive for statehood.
Obama will be in New York between September 19 and 21, the White
House said in a statement, adding that the president would also make a
speech at the Clinton Global Initiative meetings led by former president
Bill Clinton.
Palestinians, frustrated by the failure of the frozen US-sponsored
peace process with Israel to deliver statehood, plan to propose to UN
chief Ban Ki-moon on September 20 that they be granted full UN
recognition.
The United States argues that the Palestinians will only achieve
meaningful statehood through a revival of direct peace talks with Israel
and has warned it will veto the bid in the Security Council.
Washington had hoped to head off a vote and the prospect it would be
forced to use its veto to shield Israel, in a move which could anger
Arab publics at a time of intense political change sweeping the Middle
East.
Obama's push for an elusive peace deal through direct talks between
Israel and the Palestinians has foundered on Israel's refusal to stop
expanding Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank,
occupied since 1967.
The Palestinian petition at the UN could be somewhat of a personal
embarrassment for the president, as at last year's general assembly he
issued a stirring call for a Palestinian state. AFP |