A leading member of the PLO's executive Committee has said that the Palestinian Authority's plan to go to the United Nations in September is more about seeking UN membership for Palestine than international recognition of the state. According to Saeb Erekat, membership of the international body is being sought for a state of Palestine on the pre-June 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"We don't seek to declare a Palestinian state unilaterally, as is being claimed," said Dr. Erekat, "but we want the United Nations to recognise us as a state qualifying for membership of the organisation." That, he added, will lead to international acceptance and recognition.

Erekat made his comments following a meeting in Cairo with Egypt's Foreign Minister, Nabil El- Arabi. He stressed that the UN move is not intended to isolate Israel. "On the contrary, "whoever accepts the two-state solution along the 1967 borders, and seeks to implement it, must support Palestine's membership of the United Nations."

The ex-chief Palestinian negotiator sees US opposition to the Palestinian move as "unjustified, especially in light of Washington's support for the two-state solution along the 1967 borders". Going to the UN, he said, "has become a legitimate procedure based on international law and international legitimacy".