Palestinians push UN role

THE Palestinians will ask the Security Council next week to accept them as a full member of the UN, the Palestinian foreign minister said yesterday, a move that would defy Washington’s threat to veto the statehood bid.

The remarks by Riad Malki came just ahead of the arrival in the West Bank of a senior US diplomatic team in a last-ditch effort to persuade Palestinians to drop the UN bid. Although Malki did not close the door on compromise, his comments signalled the chances of breakthrough were slim.