Abbas seeks to push ahead with unilateral statehood bid

"Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday he was discussing with Jordan plans to resubmit to the United Nations Security Council a resolution calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state that failed to win enough votes last week.

Jordan remains a member of the Security Council while several other countries with revolving membership were replaced over the New Year...

Speaking at a cultural conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian seat of self-rule government, Abbas said there would be no let up on the Palestinians' effort to gain membership.

'We didn't fail,' Abbas said. 'The U.N. Security Council failed us. We'll go again to the Security Council. Why not? Perhaps after a week. We are studying it and we will study this with our allies and especially Jordan; because they are close to us and they care about us. You all know the historical relationship (with Jordan), but also Jordan is a member of the U.N. Security Council. We will discuss with Jordan, to submit the resolution again, a third time or even a fourth time. We will not give up until the Security Council gives us admission.'"