Annan calls for establishment of Palestinian state

United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has supported calls for a Palestinian state.

In a speech yesterday, Mr Annan said the time has come for the Palestinians to "finally be allowed to exercise their inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination and to a state of their own."

The UN resolution which created Israel in 1947 also provided for the establishment of a Palestinian state, but the UN has failed to honour its own resolution for the past 54 years.