RAMALLAH, July 2, 2011 (WAFA) – Fatah’s commissioner for international relations, Nabil Shaath, Saturday said accepting Fatah as a full member in Socialist International (SI) is considered an implicit recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

He told WAFA that “with this achievement, Fatah is now the democratic socialist party that represents Palestine in SI.” He said that this membership is only granted to sovereign states, which affirms SI recognition of a Palestinian state.

Shaath said that Fatah, since it is now a full member of SI, plans to nominate President Mahmoud Abbas for the vacant post of SI vice-president for the Middle East in the next SI board meeting.

He said that this achievement makes it possible for Palestine to obtain full membership in other democratic social organizations, which means getting more support for the Palestinian cause and recognition in September, especially that SI includes a number of presidents and ministers from all around the world.

Greek socialist movement hosted SI council meeting in Athens, in which Fatah delegation headed by Shaath participated in the meeting. Fatah’s membership was updated from a consultant member to a full member.

Fatah gained membership in SI as an observer in 1996 and was updated to a consultant in 2000. With the new full membership, Fatah is the 116th full member in SI.

M.H./M.A.