RAMALLAH, September 4, 2011 (WAFA) – Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki will attend the 42nd Pacific Island Forum to be held in Auckland, New Zealand on Tuesday, said a statement issued by the ministry on Saturday.

Palestine has diplomatic relations with only two islands of the 13 independent islands in the Pacific. The remaining islands do not recognize a Palestinian state and most of the islands will vote against the United Nations General Assembly’s resolutions regarding the Palestinian state, said the statement.

Al-Malki will meet the New Zealand Foreign Minister and seek to meet the remaining islands’ foreign ministers, in an attempt to gain their support for the Palestinian bid to gain full UN membership of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders in September, whether in recognizing the Palestinian state or refraining from voting against the bid.

R.Q./F.J.