French lawmakers to vote on Nov 28 over recognising Palestine as a state: Source

French president Francois Hollande (left) speaks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas at the Elysee presidential palace on Sept 19, 2014, in Paris. French lawmakers will vote on Nov 28 on a proposal by the Socialist Party urging the governme
French president Francois Hollande (left) speaks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas at the Elysee presidential palace on Sept 19, 2014, in Paris. French lawmakers will vote on Nov 28 on a proposal by the Socialist Party urging the government to recognise Palestine as a state, a parliamentary source said on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP

PARIS (AFP) - French lawmakers will vote on Nov 28 on a proposal by the Socialist Party urging the government to recognise Palestine as a state, a parliamentary source said Wednesday.

The non-binding but highly symbolic vote would follow a similar vote in the British Parliament and after Swedish lawmakers went further and formally voted to recognise Palestine.

A draft of the proposal states that the lower house National Assembly "invites the French government to use the recognition of the state of Palestine as an instrument to gain a definitive resolution of the conflict".

France will "obviously at a certain moment recognise the Palestinian state," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told AFP on Saturday. "The question is when and how? Because this recognition must be useful for efforts to break the deadlock and contribute to a final resolution of the conflict."

British lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Oct 13 in favour of a non-binding motion to "recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution".

Sweden announced on Oct 30 it officially recognised the state of Palestinian, a move criticised by Israel and the United States.

The Palestinian Authority estimates that 134 countries have now recognised Palestine as a state, although the number is disputed and several recognitions by what are now European Union member states date back to the Soviet era.

On Saturday, Europe's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for a Palestinian state sharing Jerusalem as its capital with Israel.

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