The Palestinians Yesterday began a campaign in support of their UN membership bid, as their senior leaders met to fine-tune the plan to become the UN's 194th member state.

The launch of the campaign, dubbed "National Campaign for Palestine: state 194," is part of the build-up to September 20, when Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is expected to submit the formal membership request.

Abbas yesterday was meeting senior Palestinian representatives including the central committee of his Fatah party, the PLO's executive committee and leaders of various Palestinian political parties.

The gathering to discuss details of the bid is likely to be one of the last that the Palestinian leadership will hold before the formal membership request is submitted to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Abbas is to submit a formal request for Palestinian UN membership to Ban on September 20 and will address the General Assembly on September 23 in a speech officials say will be broadcast on giant screens in Palestinian cities.

The request is expected to seek full membership for a Palestinian state on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six DayWar.

The bid is opposed by Israel and Washington, which has warned it will block the membership plan in the Security Council.