Abbas to apply for Palestinian statehood in UN

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will submit an application for full United Nations membership at the General Assembly next month, his foreign minister said on Saturday, without specifying exactly when the request would be made.The state who wants to be a member (of the U.N.) should make the request itself, so Palestine should submit the request represented by its president himself who is the President Mahmoud Abbas, Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said in a briefing in Ramallah. Al-Malki added he thinks the president will present the application when he gets to the United Nations and meets the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.But the United States, which has veto power in the U.N. Security Council, is expected to oppose any Abbas bid to seek a unilateral U.N. mandate for statehood in the absence of peace talks with Israel.Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement expressing regret at the move and said that it was expected and is regrettable.The prime minister still believes that only through direct and honest negotiations, not through unilateral decisions, will it be possible to to advance the peace process, the written statement read.