AlHijjah 16, 1432, Nov 12, 2011, SPA - The Palestinians said Friday their leaders will decide quickly whether to seek a vote in the Security Council on their bid for U.N. membership. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. observer, said the Palestinians would be consulting Arab leaders and supporters on their next steps after the council's admissions committee approved a report saying there is no consensus among the 15 council nations on the membership application. Mansour said that if the leaders decide to pursue a vote on a Security Council resolution and it fails, "there is nothing to be ashamed of." He noted that Israel, Jordan, Italy, Kuwait and many other countries weren't admitted to the United Nations on their first attempt. "We are dead determined to succeed in this exercise, and I believe we will," he told reporters. "We do deserve to become a full member ... so we will intensify our efforts with our friends in order to achieve that objective, and we hope that we can do it soon because the Security Council will remain engaged with our application until we prevail and until we succeed." --MORE
