Nicolas Sarkozy has warned of a new cycle of violence in the Middle East, if Palestinian demands for full membership of the UN are vetoed in the Security Council by the US
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned of a new cycle of violence in the Middle East if Palestinian demands for full membership of the UN are vetoed in the Security Council by the US.
He has suggested a compromise in which the UN General Assembly gives the Palestinians an enhanced status as a non-member state and that peace talks with Israel should resume within a month, with agreement reached within a year.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for international "pressure" on Israel to make peace with the Palestinians.
"It is necessary to put pressure on Israel to achieve peace," Erdogan told the General Assembly, "and show them that they are not above the law."
He also made a new demand that Israel apologize for its deadly raid on a Turkish-led aid flotilla to Gaza in May 2010.
US President Barack Obama said yesterday that there could be no shortcut to peace through the UN.
The Palestinians have indicated frustration after two years of working with the Obama administration to get talks moving again.
Mr Obama told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that UN action would not achieve a Palestinian state and the US would veto any Security Council move to recognise Palestinian statehood, the White House said.
"We would have to oppose any action at the UN Security Council including, if necessary, vetoing," Ben Rhodes, the White House national security council spokesman, said after Mr Obama met Mr Abbas in New York.
A senior Palestinian official said Mr Obama's stance violated the spirit of the "Arab spring".
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