The German position on the Palestinian Authority's plans to seek full membership of the United Nations is "not positive," a senior Palestinian official said Monday.
Riyad Malki, foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority, said his German counterpart, Guido Westerwelle, told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Germany does not support the Palestinian's UN bid, DPA reported.
"Germany's position, like a number of other European Union countries, is not positive," Malki told Voice of Palestine radio.
Westerwelle and Abbas met Sunday night in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The German Foreign Minister is in the region on a three-day tour, during which he will also meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Abbas said last week he intends submitting the Palestinian's application for UN membership once he arrives in New York on September 19 for the General Assembly session.
Malki said Westerwelle tried in his meeting with Abbas "to encourage him against going to the UN Security Council."
He said Abbas will hear the final European Union position later Monday when he meets EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, in the Egyptian capital Cairo, where the Arab League's follow-up committee on the peace process is going to hold its final meeting before the Palestinians apply for UN membership.
He said Ashton will try to persuade Abbas "to find a way to prevent confrontation at the UN."
The United States has already said it will veto the Palestinian request when it is discussed at the Security Council later this month.
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