Gulf tour for the new Palestinian leaders covering Kuwait
Palestine-Gulf, Politics, 12/8/2004

News reports said that a high ranking Palestinian delegation led by the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister Ahmad Qurei and the Interim President for the Palestinian authority Rouhi Fattouh will start next week a tour of visits covering the 6 Gulf states.

In a statement, the Palestinian embassy in Oman charge de affairs Attallah Kheiri said that the delegation's tour will start from Saudi Arabia and then will cover Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, noting that "the aim of the visit is to get the support of these states for the Palestinian authority and its new leadership and the Palestinian demands before the Israeli stubbornness and conveying a message to Israel that the Arabs are standing by the Palestinians."

Kheiri said the Palestinian delegation will notify the leaders of these states on the real picture of the after the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat demise and arrangements for the presidential elections set in January 2005 and the internal Palestinian dialogue, the security condition inside the Palestinian territories and the presumed Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as well as the Palestinian attitude towards the peace process.

Kheiri disclosed that the Palestinian delegation will confirm during this visit, which is considered the first of its kind at such a level to the Gulf states since several years, the commitment of the Palestinians to the peace process and that the presumed Israeli withdrawal from Gaza is part of the Roadmap peace plan. He added that the Palestinian delegation will also stress the importance of the Gulf financial and political support for the Palestinian people.

The new Palestinian leadership hopes to make use of the political influence the Arab Gulf states enjoy and the relations of these states with the USA and the EU in pressuring Israel to carry out international agreements.

Kheiri indicated that the visit of a Palestinian delegation at that level to the state of Kuwait after a tension in the relations lasted for 14 years is considered an evidence on the desire of the Palestinian leadership to open a new page of the relations with Kuwait.

Previous Stories:
  Al-Atieyah deplores Israeli practices in al-Aqsa mosque   (4/5/2004)
  Gulf Cooperation Council and the expulsion of Arafat   (9/22/2003)
  Al-Ra'i al-Aam: Ateya and the drastic situation in the Palestinian territories   (9/12/2003)

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