Abbas hopes Obama visit will usher new US policy
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian presidency hopes US President Barack
Obama's forthcoming visit will mark the beginning of a new US policy in
the region, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
“President Mahmud Abbas welcomes the visit of US President Barack
Obama to Palestine,” Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for the Palestinian
presidency told AFP.
“We hope that President Obama's visit to the region is the beginning
of a new US policy that will lead to the establishment of an independent
Palestinian state on the Palestinian lands occupied since 1967, in
accordance with the international resolutions,” Abu Rudeina said from
Cairo.
The White House announced on Tuesday that Obama would make his first
visit as president to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan in
the spring, after a visit planned by his Secretary of State John Kerry.
Both Israel and the Palestinians have theoretically committed
themselves to the goal of a “two-state solution,” living side-by-side
within agreed borders.
The Palestinians say they will not return to negotiations while
Jewish settlement building continues in the West Bank and east
Jerusalem. Israel says it will not enter talks while the Palestinians
lay down “pre-conditions”.
AFP
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