RAMALLAH, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian leadership decided to suspend its bid to join UN agencies for two months to allow U.S. efforts to revive its peace talks with Israel, Palestinian foreign minister said Sunday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry "asked for two months for it to push forward the peace process... and we agreed to this," said Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riad Al-Maliki.
"If Kerry fails in this, we will restart our bids to join international organizations, Al-Maliki told Voice of Palestine radio.
The United States opposed the upgrade of the Palestinian status in the UN General Assembly to that of a non-member observer state in November 2012.
After the Palestinian bid succeeded, the United States appeared to be more interested in restarting the peace negotiations, which have been stalled since 2010.
The U.S. efforts intensified when President Barack Obama visited the region last month. He said that Kerry will follow up with Palestinian and Israeli leaders to bridge their gap in conditions for reviving the talks.
The Palestinians demand a full suspension of Jewish settlement activities in the West Bank before any direct negotiations resume, but the precondition is rejected by Israel.
Kerry is expected to arrive in Israel later on Sunday and then head to the West Bank to meet Palestinian officials.
Feedback
RSS
