Palestine Is Trying To Get President Abbas To Attend The UN General Assembly Session

JAKARTA - A senior Palestinian official close to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told The Times of Israel the Palestinian Authority was making every effort through various channels to persuade the United States to lift visa restrictions for him and other senior Palestinian officials so they could attend the UN General Assembly this month.

The source stressed that Arab countries, including Gulf countries, are working to help the Palestinian Authority make this effort.

"We want this to go according to international law and agreements between the United Nations and the United States," the official said, referring to Washington's obligations under the UN host country's agreement to allow state leaders to come to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, reported The Times of Israel September 2.

The official, who did not want to be named, added that Uncle Sam's country's move "complexes the problem, and we don't want things to get more complicated."

"We are determined that the voices of the Palestinian people be heard, and the Palestinian President's speech will be delivered at the United Nations in any way possible," he said.

He added that President Abbas's long-distance speech was one of the options being considered, if he still did not get a visa.

As previously reported, the United States rejected the visa of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who was scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly.

The US State Department last week announced that Foreign Minister Marco Rubio refused and revoked visas for Palestinian officials ahead of the UN General Assembly, quoted from.

The State Department said it had complied with the US commitment to the United Nations, for still allowing Palestinian delegations already in New York to attend the event by granting visa relief to the diplomats.