Vote on UN bid of recognizing Palestinian as non-member state to be "very soon": official

 • A Palestinian official Sunday said that the vote on the UN bid will be "very soon."

 • The Palestinian delegation began its contacts and consultations with Arab and foreign countries.

 • The United States and Israel oppose the Palestinian bid to the UN.

RAMALLAH, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian official on Sunday said that the vote on the bid of recognizing Palestinian as a non-member state by the United Nations will be "very soon."

Chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, told Xinhua that the Palestinian delegation in New York began its contacts and consultations with Arab and foreign countries.

"The aim of the contacts and the consultations with all those countries is to gain the largest support for recognizing a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital," said Erekat, adding that "the vote will be very soon."

The move came after the peace process had stalled since October 2010 due to Israeli-Palestinian disputes over settlement.

The United States and Israel oppose the Palestinian bid to the UN for the recognition of a member or non-member state. Instead, they called on the Palestinians to gain statehood through peace negotiations.

Meanwhile, Erekat slammed Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's statements against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in which the minister said Abbas would pay a heavy price of his insistency on gaining the UN recognition.

"Lieberman and people like him believe that Israel can continue its crimes without being watched or criticized, but once Palestine becomes a UN member, the opposite will happen," said Erekat.

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