Palestine stands firm by plan to seek full UN membership

RAMALLAH, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Sunday that Palestine will request full United Nations membership soon.

At a news conference jointly held with Maltese Foreign Minister Carmelo Abela following a meeting in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, he said, "The recent voting of the UN General Assembly...was a victory (for) Palestine and big failure (for) the U.S. and its clear biased policy (toward) Israel."

In spite of Washington's "threats" of reprisals, he said UN member countries overwhelmingly voted against U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

On Dec. 21, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the status of Jerusalem to declare Trump's decision on Jerusalem "null and void".

At a rare emergency special session, the draft resolution was adopted 128-9 with 35 abstentions.

Earlier this month, the adviser to Palestinian President for Foreign Affairs, Nabil Shaath, was quoted in online media reports as saying that the request for full UN membership would be made in January 2018.

Currently, Palestine participates in the world body as a non-member observer. Enditem