Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Palestinians to seek full membership of United Nations

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday he would demand full membership of the United Nations when he goes to the UN General Assembly next week.

"We are going to the United Nations to request our legitimate right, obtaining full membership for Palestine in this organization," Abbas said in a televised speech, in which he indicated that he would seek a vote on the issue in the UN Security Council.

"What I will take to the UN will be the suffering and concerns of our people that have been taking place over 63 years living under the occupation," Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians, like every nation, deserve to enjoy a state based on 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.

Abbas said that the PLO plans to continue to be the sole representative of the Palestinian people, not only at the diplomatic level but also through the implementation of the necessary steps needed to bring about a Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she saw a "growing recognition" among the "parties in the region" that it would be best for the Palestinians to abandon a bid for UN membership. At a joint news conference after talks with Australia in San Francisco, Clinton said she did not want to set odds of success for the US-led diplomatic effort to ward off the UN bid, but that she saw growing support.

US President Barack Obama has already said the United States will veto any attempt by the Palestinians to seek statehood recognition in the Security Council, saying it will do little to frame a genuine Palestinian state on the ground.

The United States has sent envoys to the region in a last-minute bid to thwart the Palestinians' effort for membership at the United Nations, a move vehemently opposed by the Israeli enemy.