Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority; Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization Executive Committee. Photo: World Economic Forum.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke out Sunday about the publicly debated possibility of a Western strike on Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack in the country.  The Palestinian Authority “will never support” the bombing of an Arab country by a foreign state, he said, calling for a political solution in Syria.

“We don’t accept for any Arabic country to be attacked and we condemn the use of chemical weapons by any group. The solution to the Syrian crisis must be political and there is no military solution. We want a peaceful solution for Syria,” Abbas said in a speech to Fatah’s revolutionary council, according to Ma’an News Agency.

Asserting that the U.S. is likely to attack Syria, Abbas was unequivocal in stating the PA’s “position towards it is fixed, we are against a military attack.”

Abbas said the PA had drafted a paper with suggestions for ending the Syria conflict, which it submitted to international bodies, but he provided no further details, Ma’an reported.

A military solution would leave Syria divided along sectarian and ethnic lines, and lead to civil war Abbas said.

“The other solution is the political one, for everyone to sit around the table and make suggestions and recommendations. We are against the attack on Syria and this is our position and policy,” he concluded.