Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is slated to ask French President Francois Hollande to recognize Palestine as a state in a meeting next Friday, before the PA chief heads to New York for the UN General Assembly. According to the the PA Foreign Minister Dr. Riyad al-Malki who spone to the Ma'an news agency, the move will be the first step in a broader effort to drum up international support for a new initiative to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The plan envisages a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines within three years.
