BBC News with Kathy Clugston

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has confirmed that he'll ask for full membership of the United Nations next week. Mr Abbas said that he would apply to the Security Council for Palestinian statehood within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital. Jon Donnison reports from Ramallah.

President Abbas's speech was

bold

. To huge applause from the watching officials, he declared he will take his request for full membership of the United Nations to the UN Security Council. Having addressed his people, it will now be difficult, if not impossible, for him to

back down

despite immense diplomatic pressure and the threat of a veto from the United States. The president's speech also aimed to

play down

expectation

s. He said the UN bid would not end Israel's occupation. He challenged that occupation but not Israel's legitimacy.

Anti-Gaddafi forces in Libya have intensified their attacks on two of the colonel's last strongholds, Bani Walid and Sirte. They have been facing fierce resistance. The fighters reportedly entered the town, but Gaddafi loyalists

kept them away

from the centre. Peter Biles reports.

All day, armed pick-up trucks have been racing up and down the main road to the north of Bani Walid. Anti-Gaddafi forces appear to be in good spirits. They wave and shout as they drive past. But there's also been a regular flow of ambulances speeding in both directions, to and from the town. There's been no word on the number of casualties. We reached a point about a mile or two from the outskirts of Bani Walid. We could see buildings in the distance. Artillery or mortar shells landed a few hundred metres away, suggesting that pro-Gaddafi forces still have a capacity to respond.