PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas has vowed to press ahead with plans to win United Nations backing for a unilateral declaration of independence despite yesterday's rejection of the initiative by the European Union.
Speaking in Cairo after talks with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Mr Abbas seemed unfazed by international opposition to the Palestinian proposal.
"We sense a very difficult reality," he said. "What is the solution for us? To stay without peace? This is why I made this move."
He explained that the idea to seek the backing of the UN Security Council for a declaration of statehood was not a unilateral move but made in co-ordination with the Arab League.
Earlier Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU presidency, told reporters "the conditions are not there as of yet" for such a move.
"I would hope that we would be in a position to recognise a Palestinian state, but there has to be one first, so I think that is somewhat premature," he said.
Mr Bildt reiterated EU calls for Israel to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank, a key Palestinian demand for a resumption of peace talks.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Swedish view rejecting a declaration of statehood did not represent the view of all EU countries and the Palestinians would pursue their initiative.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's external relations commissioner, speaking at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, said the 27-member bloc was co-ordinating efforts with Washington to end the impasse in the Middle East peace process.
"The most important thing until now is to really help the Americans bring both sides to the table,"she said.
French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, who meets Israeli leaders in Jerusalem today, said he will insist on a resumption of peace talks between the two sides.
Frustrated by the lack of progress, the Palestinians floated the idea of turning to the UN Security Council to endorse a declaration of independence.
Not surprisingly, Israeli leaders rejected the idea. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned that one-sided moves by the Palestinians would be met with unilateral moves by Israel, and would mean Jerusalem was no longer bound by previous agreements signed with the Palestinians.
US officials also argued that the only solution to the deadlock must be a negotiated agreement.
US senator Joe Lieberman, visiting Jerusalem, said he hoped and believed that the US would veto any Palestinian initiative at the UN Security Council for a unilateral declaration of independence.
Despite Palestinian and US pressure over settlement construction, Israel yesterday approved plans to build another 900 homes in the southern Jerusalem neighbourhood of Gilo. It was built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war but was incorporated into Jerusalem's municipal boundaries.
US peace envoy George Mitchell asked Israel to freeze the construction plans but an official at the prime minister's office said Gilo was "an integral part of Jerusalem, and there was no difference between building there and building in Tel Aviv or Haifa".
Mr Erekat said the plans proved there was no point in the Palestinians resuming negotiations with Israel.