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admissions committee for examination.
Lebanese UN Ambassador Nawaf Salam, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for September, announced the decision at a brief open Council meeting in New York to consider the Palestinian request for full UN membership.

The admission committee, which groups all 15 council members, is in charge of the admission of a new UN member. The committee will meet to consider the Palestinian request last Friday.
The council decision, required by the council rules of procedure, is the first official step by the 15-nation UN body to consider the Palestinian statehood bid.
“Under the provisions of Rule 59 of the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council, unless the council decides otherwise, an application for membership shall be referred by the president of the council to the committee on the admission of new members,” Salam said.

Despite mounting pressures, including repeated US veto threats, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas last Friday formally presented the application letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a bid to seek the UN recognition of Palestine as a full member state.

The US, a permanent council member and close ally of Israel, has vowed to veto any move to recognise Palestine as a UN member state.
The US and Israel strongly oppose the Palestinian request on the grounds that a Palestinian state should come out of direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Direct negotiations between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stalled in October 2010 when the Palestinians pulled out due to Israel’s decision not to renew a moratorium on settlement building in the West Bank.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian permanent observer to the UN, was pleased with the move to send the application to the admissions committee for review.
“We are grateful for the president of the Security Council for moving decisively and clearly on this, on our application and we are grateful for the members of the Security Council for approving unanimously to send the application to the appropriate committee and to begin the process of the consideration of our application,” he said.

“As you see the process is moving forward step by step and we hope that the Security Council will shoulder its responsibility and to approve our application and to send a recommendation to the General Assembly for the admission of Palestine to the United Nations.”

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council’s approval and recommendation to the General Assembly is a must for the admission of a new member. – Xinhua.