US hopes talks can avoid Palestinians UN bid

The United States will work up to the last moment to avoid a Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations later this month, the State Department said Friday, warning that it could obstruct peace negotiations.We will use every day, every hour to try get these parties back to the table, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland told reporters.We still believe progress is possible, she added.Nuland said talks this week with Palestinian authorities were useful, following a meeting Wednesday between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Washingtons Middle East envoy David Hale and Dennis Ross, senior adviser to US President Barack Obama.The visit was used to think through how we can continue to try to avoid the situation in New York, and if we cant avoid it, how we can manage things so that after New York we can still stand a chance of getting back to the table.Amid the Palestinian leadership campaign to become the world bodys 194th member state, she said escalating the tension on the way to New York clearly doesnt help get back to the table.Washington has already said it would veto any bid to the United Nations Security Council, arguing that a Palestinian state can be established only through negotiations.But if the effort is blocked at the Security Council, the Palestinians say they will turn to the General Assembly, where they are expected to easily win the votes to upgrade representation from observer body to non-member state.