The British Foreign Secretary William Hague has said that the UK will not vote against Palestinian non-member observer status at the UN.

However, Mr Hague demanded assurances from the Palestinians that they would enter talks without setting conditions and that Palestine will not seek membership of the International Criminal Court.

"Up until the time of the vote itself, we will remain open to voting in favour of the resolution, if we see public assurances by the Palestinians on these points," he said.

"However, in the absence of these assurances, the UK would abstain on the vote. This would be consistent with our strong support for the principle of Palestinian statehood, but our strong concern that the resolution could set the peace process back."

The Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Manuel Hassassian told the BBC that Mahmoud Abbas has rejected the demands.

"He told Mr Hague the resolution would remain unchanged and called the conditions unrealistic and would provoke a public anger,"

"The UK is keen on striking the right diplomatic balance; namely, it is committed to the two-state solution but it also wants to stick to the US line on the Palestinian statehood bid, which is totally opposing it."