PA seeks U.N. backing for 1967 boundaries

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A Palestinian official says leaders may ask the U.N. Security Council to recognize a de facto Palestinian state based along 1967 boundaries.

Speaking to the Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam, senior negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian Authority is hoping to obtain the Security Council's backing for a state that would include all Palestinian areas held prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and that had East Jerusalem as its capital, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Saturday.

Erekat told al-Ayyam the idea has received a positive reception from other Arab states, Russia and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, adding that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is working to line up additional backing for 1967 boundaries on his current visit to South American countries.

Haaretz noted Washington said this week it does not accept continued Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, declaring that Jerusalem's verbal commitment to "restrain" settlement activity is not enough. Palestinian officials have said anything short of an Israeli commitment to a complete settlement freeze would keep Abbas from resigning his post.