President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated Tuesday his intention to seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state by September, saying he believed he would have the backing of the US administration.
In an interview with the daily newspaper Al-Ayyam, the second in as many days, the president said he would shortly ask his American counterpart, "if he is capable of honoring his promise [for a Palestinian state in September] or not."
Speaking as he left Tunis for France, Abbas noted that "if the UN recognizes south Sudan as a state and does not recognize the Palestinian state, this will be disappointing."
Abbas also denied reports saying that he intends to dissolve the PA if recognition of a Palestinian state has not been achieved by September.
"I never said this. I said that after September, we will return to our leadership and place everything in front of them and discuss all options, then the [Palestinian] leadership will decide what will be the next step."
When he lands in Paris Wednesday, Abbas will meet with French and European leaders to seek advice and support on his diplomatic program.
In an interview with AFP last week, Abbas said he would be asking his French counterpart President Nicolas Sarkozy "for his advice" on the best approach to seeking recognition for an independent Palestinian state.
"We are friends, so he can be sincere with us and to talk to us openly," Abbas said of the French leader, who he is expected to meet on Thursday.
The Palestinian leader's trip to France is part of a diplomatic swing that has already taken him in recent weeks to Britain, Denmark and Russia, and will be followed in May with a visit to Germany.
It comes at a time when the Palestinian leadership seems increasingly committed to pressing for UN recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, to include the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
But that course of action is fiercely opposed by Israel, and has run into strong resistance from the United States.
Washington has also expressed opposition to a European plan to offer a new initiative defining the "parameters" of a final peace deal -- particularly with regard to security and borders -- in the hope of kick-starting peace talks.
In a bid to avoid further discussion of the plan, which is reportedly being championed by Britain, France and Germany, Washington called off a meeting of the peacemaking Quartet scheduled for this month, diplomats said.
The meeting postponement, which Abbas called unfortunate, is the latest US measure to disappoint the Palestinians, who had hoped to garner Washington's support for a UN resolution condemning settlement building earlier this year.
American diplomats acknowledged that the measure largely reflected US policy on Israeli settlement building, which Washington has condemned, but the United States still vetoed the resolution at the Security Council.
European nations, by contrast, voted in favor of the resolution and afterward also issued a statement stressing their criticism of Israel's settlement policy.
Abbas's leadership has also received a significant boost in recent weeks with assessments from the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, deeming his Palestinian Authority ready to govern a state.
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