United Nations, Aug 29 (EFE) – The United States government announced Friday that it will deny and revoke the visas of a Palestinian diplomats scheduled to participate in the next UN General Assembly in September. <\/p>
\u200b\u201cIn accordance with US law, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the\u202fPalestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly,\u201d said the State Department statement.<\/p>
\u200b\u201cThe Trump Administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,\u201d it added.<\/p>
\u200bThe US department statement stressed that “before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism \u2014 including the October 7 massacre \u2014 and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO. \u201c<\/p>
Adding that \u201cThe PA must also end its attempts to bypass negotiations through international lawfare campaigns, including appeals to the ICC and ICJ, and efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state.\u201d<\/p>
\u200bPalestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas planned to attend the General Assembly and speak on behalf of his country, Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said Friday. <\/p>
The Palestinian ambassador stated that he had received the news only minutes ago and was currently studying its implications.<\/p>
A State Department spokesman explained in writing to EFE that the permanent diplomatic mission headed by Mansour will have an exemption because of the agreement with UN headquarters, but did not comment on the case of President Abbas. <\/p>
\u200bThe US move comes as France, the UK, Australia, and Canada were ready to recognize the Palestinian state during the General Assembly.<\/p>
\u200bAmbassador Mansour predicted that around a dozen states could take this step of recognition during the assembly and bring to 160 the number of countries recognizing the Palestinian state (out of the 193 members of the United Nations). EFE<\/p>
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