US intensifies effort to head off UN showdown

The United States pressed ahead with intensive talks aimed at averting a showdown over Palestinian statehood at the United Nations this week, asking key Muslim ally Turkey not to allow its rift with Israel to grow wider and hoping to coax cooperation from a noncommittal Russia.As President Barack Obama and other world leaders headed to New York for the annual UN General Assembly session, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met her Turkish counterpart and was to see Russias foreign minister later in the day.A senior US official said Clinton had encouraged Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to repair badly strained ties with Israel and play a positive role in resolving the Palestinian issue that is looming large over the General Assembly that opens on Wednesday. A second senior US official added that Washington was particularly concerned about frayed Turkey-Israel ties because the Palestinian confrontation has raised the stakes for further confrontation.Officials said they would like the Turks, who support the Palestinian bid, to lower tensions with Israel by toning down what has been sharp rhetoric regarding the Jewish state in recent weeks. This, the officials said, could improve the atmosphere at the United Nations.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Clintons meetings were private.Clinton seemed to be referring to a Turkish pledge to send warships to back up any future aid convoy attempting to break the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, but officials said that wasnt specifically discussed.Israelis fear the statehood bid could further hamper their international standing, having lost a longtime ally in Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and its close partnership with Turkey, the only Muslim nation in NATO.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed not to back down despite tremendous pressure on the bid for UN recognition and membership in the world body.Abbas insisted that the statehood goal should not derail a resumption of direct negotiations. The US views the Palestinian plan as counterproductive and a potential roadblock to the peace effort. The US has vowed to veto the measure in the UN Security Council.The pressure from the United States and other quarters was matched by feverish efforts to offer the Palestinian leadership a viable plan forward, conscious that the current state of negotiations with the Jewish state is leading nowhere.