Middle East News
Abbas in Paris for raising of Palestinian flag at UNESCO
Dec 13, 2011, 9:26 GMT
Eds: epa photos =
Paris (dpa) - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was in Paris Tuesday to witness the historic raising of the Palestinian flag at the United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO.
The Palestinian Authority president was also to hold talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The flag-raising ceremony at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization takes place at noon (1100 GMT). Abbas was scheduled to give a press conference afterwards.
UNESCO members voting by an overwhelming majority to admit Palestine as the agency's 195th member state on October 31.
The previous month Abbas had applied for the bigger prize of full UN membership. That application is still pending at the UN Security Council.
The UNESCO vote triggered a funding crisis at the organization.
The United States, which opposed Palestinian membership, suspended its UNESCO funding, saying its laws barred it from funding a UN agency that made a Palestinian state a full member. Israel also suspended its contributions.
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