Palestinian UN bid a mistake, says US

Washington: The US has termed as a "mistake" the Palestinian bid to become a non-member observer state at the UN -- a move supported by countries like India, Brazil and South Africa -- warning it would derail the Middle East peace process and vowing to oppose it.

"We have obviously been very clear that we do not think this step is going to bring the Palestinian people any closer to a state; that we think it is a mistake; that we oppose it; that we will oppose it," State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, told reporters at her daily news conference. Nuland said the message has been conveyed by the US including Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to all its international partners, that they should not support the Palestinian move which move make it difficult for the Israelis to come back to the negotiating table. "We think it`s going to be complicating and potentially a step backwards in terms of the larger goal, which is a negotiated solution," she said. "We have said all the way along that our concern is that this is complicating; that it makes the process of re-starting the negotiations potentially harder; and this is among the arguments that we are using in trying to dissuade the Palestinians from this step; that it`s potentially complicating," she added. Nuland also cautioned the Palestinian authority the difficulties the United States Government might face in getting aid for them being approved by the US Congress, if they go ahead with their plans. "To my knowledge, there`s no legislative impact that is triggered in the same way that there was with regard to UNESCO. However, we also have money pending in the Congress for the Palestinian Authority, money that they need to support their regular endeavours and to support administration of the territories," he said. "So, obviously, if they take this step, it`s gonna complicate the way the Congress looks at the Palestinians, and it`s gonna make all of that harder as well. We have made clear that we think the money should go forward in the interest of the Palestinian people, regardless of whether their leaders make bad decisions," Nuland said. PTI