Abbas confident of UN membership bid

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday expressed confidence that the Palestinian bid for the United Nations' recognition of a Palestinian state will succeed this time once the bid is applied. Abbas, who paid a visit to the West Bank's northern city of Jenin to have Iftar meal with city notables during the holy month of Ramadan, said that "we went to the UN and we didn't succeed in the first time, but next time we will." "We are people who deserve a state and we have all the characteristics of a state and we don't lack anything," Abbas said, "The only thing we want is to see the military occupation of our lands leaving." At a speech to university graduates, he also said he was awaiting the release of prisoners who were arrested and detained in Israel before 1993: "They've spent enough time in prison, we want them out." In September last year, the Palestinians officially requested from the UN Security Council a recognition of an independent Palestinian state, but the request did not get the enough votes from the Security Council members. The Palestinians started the bid after the peace talks with Israel were been suspended in October 2010 because Israel insisted to continue settlement construction in the West Bank. Abbas said earlier that an Arab League committee to follow up the stalled peace process will decide on September 6 the exact date for applying again to the United Nations for the recognition of a Palestinian state.