New York (dpa) – The Palestinian bid for UN membership, which failed in the UN Security Council last year, may be revived in other organizations, a Palestinian official said Friday. Ambassador Riyad Mansour said a decision would be made by his government in Ramallah whether to send another application directly to the UN General Assembly and UN agencies requesting membership. “We will let you know the steps forward once a decision is made,” Mansour told reporters at UN headquarters in New York as he explained the Palestinian “active agenda in the next few weeks.” “The options are there,” he said, adding that the membership application could be sent to the 193-nation assembly and other unspecified UN agencies. The PA is supported by a majority of assembly members. The Palestinian Authority was admitted into the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris in November, which prompted the United States to withhold its annual contribution of more than 60 million dollars to UNESCO's budget. The US had threatened to veto the PA's UN bid, which was made in September by President Mahmoud Abbas, when it was under consideration in the 15-nation Security Council. The application failed to get enough votes in the council and was subsequently dropped. Mansour said Ramallah is considering to revive the bid this year. The council by tradition makes the first decision for any membership application and then recommends it to the assembly for a final approval. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/kxGZN Tags: featured, Membership, United Nations Section: Latest News, Palestine
