Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday rejected US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton’s request to refrain from asking the UN to upgrade the
status of a Palestinian state to nonmember.
Abbas relayed his position to
Clinton during a meeting in Ramallah.
At the meeting, Clinton reiterated
Washington’s opposition to Abbas’s statehood bid, chief PLO negotiator Saeb
Erekat said.
“President Abbas told Clinton that we have taken a decision
[to go to the UN],” Erekat said. “We are not interested in a confrontation with
the US or any other country. We are practicing our right to establish a
Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its
capital.
This will happen on November 29.”
Abbas and Clinton also
discussed the current round of violence in the Gaza Strip.
Abbas assured
Clinton that Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups are interested in reaching
a cease-fire with Israel. Abbas cautioned that the Gaza Strip was facing a “real
humanitarian crisis and massacre.”
Abbas also met in Ramallah with US
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and discussed with him the latest developments in
the Gaza Strip.
The PA prime minister told reporters after the meeting
that Israel was “fully responsible” for the current violence because of the
killing of top Hamas operative Ahmed Jabari.
Earlier, scores of
Palestinian activists demonstrated in Ramallah against Clinton’s visit to the
city. The protesters shouted slogans condemning US support for Israel and burned
American flags.
PA policemen prevented the demonstrators from marching
toward Abbas’s office. They also tried to stop journalists and photographers
from covering the protest.
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