EU's Ashton says no definitive position towards Palestinian UN bid

Sep 12, 2011, 15:39 GMT

Cairo - There is no definitive European position regarding the Palestinian bid to gain recognition of statehood and membership from the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Monday.

'There is no resolution on the table yet, so there is no position,' Ashton said in a statement during a two-day visit to Cairo.

'What is clear from the European Union is that the way forward is negotiations,' which aim to bring 'a just and fair settlement' to both Palestinians and Israelis, she added.

Her remarks came after a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr to discuss the Palestinian bid.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Rushdi said that the Palestinian leadership had been left with no other choice after the peace process had come to a 'standstill.'

'Negotiations should not be an end in itself,' added Rushdi but rather 'a means to establishing a state and recognizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.'

During her Cairo visit, Ashton is scheduled to meet Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi and hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of the organization's member states as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Peace Initiative Committee of the Arab League is expected to meet Monday night in Cairo to shape Arab action plans for the forthcoming meeting at the United Nations, according to Palestinian positions and demands.

The Arab Peace Initiative is a comprehensive peace plan endorsed in the Saudi capital Riyadh in 2007 and which attempts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Arab foreign ministers will also meet at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Abbas, who arrived in Cairo Monday, will also attend Tuesday's meeting at the Arab League.

Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are non-binding and the United States has been clear that it will use its veto power if necessary.

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