Support wavers in Security Council
US president may be let off by others' reluctance
New York: The Obama administration has vowed to veto the Palestinian request, but a failure to reach a nine-vote majority would allow President Obama to avoid standing out as the world leader who squelched Palestinian statehood — something he says he supports, but only through negotiations with Israel.
The US and the four other permanent members of the council — Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom — all wield veto power, but only the US has said it would use its veto to stop the creation of an independent Palestine.
China on Monday announced that it supports the petition — but in his speech to the UN General Assembly, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also underscored China's support for a return to direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Last week at the UN, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a speech he supports non-voting "observer" status for Palestine — suggesting France would vote "no" on full statehood through the Security Council.
On Friday the Quartet seeking to broker Mideast peace — the US, the European Union, Russia and the UN — issued a statement in which they called on the Israelis and Palestinians to return to the negotiating table within a month, with the goal of reaching a final peace agreement by the end of 2012.
US officials said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addressed the issue in her meeting in New York on Monday with Colombia's foreign minister, María Angela Holguin. Colombia is one of the ten non-permanent rotating members of the Security Council the US believes can be counted on as a "no" vote on the Palestinian petition.
Some non-permanent members were seen to be wavering in what last week was considered full support for the statehood bid. Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said Palestinians planned to meet soon with those countries' officials.
