U.N. panel draft says no consensus on Palestinian bid

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(Reuters) - A draft report by a key U.N. Security Council committee, obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, declared that members could not reach consensus on whether Palestine should be accepted as a U.N. member state.

"The committee was unable to make a unanimous recommendation to the Security Council," said the draft report of the council's committee on admitting new member states.

It was circulated to all 15 Security Council members on Tuesday.

The four-page draft appears to confirm that the Palestinian move to join the world body as a full member, which Western envoys said was doomed from the outset due to a U.S. vow to veto it if it ever came to a vote in the council, is set to fail due to the council's unresolvable deadlock.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/08/us-palestinians-israel-un-idUSTRE7A74VP20111108

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1. well no surprises there but the choice of words in this snip are 'interesting '

Bosnia is also thought likely to abstain because its Muslim, Serb and Croat collective presidency cannot agree.

it's worded as though Muslim is an ethnic group IMO Bosnian might have been more appropriate, albeit I'm sure someone can come up with a reason why this way is better

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2. Palestinian Bid for U.N. Membership Faces Near-Certain Defeat

The Palestinian bid to become a full member of the United Nations headed toward certain failure on Tuesday after the Security Council’s membership committee deadlocked on the issue, according to a draft report by the committee.

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The membership committee’s report will go to the Council, where, in theory, 9 of the 15 members could still vote in favor of accepting the Palestinians. But it has become increasingly apparent that there are not sufficient votes to get a resolution passed, and it is possible that it may not even come to a vote.

The four-page report, drafted by Portugal, said the Council members held three broad views on the issue, without going into details. (Each Council member gets a seat on the membership committee, and Portugal, as the current Council president, is the chair.)

Some members thought the Palestinians should be admitted, some thought they should not and some questioned whether the Palestinians had met the requirements of membership at this time. Some members focused on whether Hamas, the extremist group that controls Gaza, had accepted the terms of membership, including the peaceful settlement of disputes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/world/middleeast/palestinians-united-nations-bid-faces-near-certain-defeat.html

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3. Britain to abstain from Palestinian statehood vote at UN

Comment by FM Hague comes as PA official estimates Palestinian bid at UN Security Council for full membership will probably fail.

Foreign Secretary William Hague says Britain will abstain when the United Nations Security Council votes on the Palestinian bid for statehood.

Hague told the House of Commons Wednesday that the decision to abstain was made after consultations with fellow Security Council member France and other European countries.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/britain-to-abstain-from-palestinian-statehood-vote-at-un-1.394603