Pakistan will support the Palestinians' bid for statehood and full UN membership, a senior Pakistani diplomat said Thursday while reaffirming his country's support to their cause.

"We believe that the time is ripe for a lasting solution of Israeli-Palestine conflict, based on two independent and sovereign States, living side by side and in peace with each other," additional foreign secretary Munawwar Saeed Bhatti told OIC's Contact Group on Palestine.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will submit a letter to the United Nations Security Council Friday requesting formal UN recognition of Palestinian statehood, according to a top Palestinian official.

Abbas met Wednesday with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who promised that the request will be taken "very seriously," Dr. Nabeel Shaath told reporters covering the 66th session of the UN General Assembly -- a session dominated concerns over the intractable Israeli-Palestinian.

In a brief speech, Bhatti said the Palestinian Authority's progress in establishing State institutions was an auspicious augury for peace. Numerous independent sources had confirmed that the international legal criteria for a functioning state of Palestinian have been met.

It was acknowledged in reports of many international bodies and mentioned in the past statements of the Middle East Quartet -- comprising the United States, Russia, the UN and the European Union -- that the goal of Palestine statehood is achievable by September 2011. "It is in everyone's interest to embrace and strengthen the achievements of Palestine, as an invaluable opportunity for lasting peace in the region.

Pakistan, therefore, supports the Palestinian quest for UN recognition," the Pakistani delegate said. "We share the widely-held view that negotiation process and Israeli settlements cannot go together. Israeli settlements constitute a major impediment to peace and reflect an utter disregard to the norms of international law and respect for culture, history and traditions."