Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Beirut yesterday to seek support for the Palestinian bid for UN membership in September, which will come as Lebanon serves as head of the Security Council. Abbas will meet President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other leaders during a two-day stay, a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Lebanon is one of 10 non-permanent current members of the UN Security Council and will serve as president of the council in September. It is expected to support the Palestinian bid. Lebanon, which remains technically in a state of war with Israel, approved the recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in November 2008 but the decision was never implemented. Mikati’s cabinet, in which Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies hold a majority, last week agreed to apply the decision, making Lebanon the last Arab country to recognise a Palestinian state.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman meets his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas yesterday
