Palestinian Authority President Hosts US Delegation in Ramallah
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by i24 News and Algemeiner Staff
Then US Vice President Joe Biden meets with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on March 09, 2016. Photo: FLASH90.
i24 News – Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas hosted Saturday a US delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, ahead of an expected visit of US President Joe Biden.
Abbas reiterated his requests to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from the US list of terrorist entities during the meeting, his office said.
The Palestinian president also requested that the PLO’s office in Washington and the American consulate for east Jerusalem be reopened after both were closed under the Trump administration, the PA presidency said in a statement.
Leaf, who began a three-day trip to the Palestinian territories and Israel on Saturday, met Abbas “to discuss the US-Palestinian relationship, US assistance to Palestinians, deepening ties + how Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve equal measures of freedom, security & prosperity,” the State Department said.
Biden has pledged to reopen the consulate, closed under Donald Trump, whose administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, infuriating the Palestinians who see its eastern sector as their future capital.
Israel opposes the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem, saying the US should open this diplomatic mission in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, the US has in recent days changed the title of its Palestinian Affairs Unit to Office of Palestinian Affairs (OPA), without defining it as a consulate.
The unit “operates under the auspices of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, and reports on substantive matters directly to the” State Department, an OPA spokesperson said, noting the new structuring was “to strengthen our diplomatic reporting and public diplomacy engagement.”
The move comes ahead of a possible visit by Biden to the region, as the US president said he was considering a trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian territories in July.
