Mahmoud Abbas hails Sultan Qaboos stand on Palestinian cause

Muscat: President Mahmoud Abbas of the State of Palestine, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), has hailed the wisdom of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, as well as His Majesty’s stances towards different issues and his remarkable role in enhancing the foundations of peace and stability in the region.
In a special interview with Oman News Agency (ONA) during his visit to the Sultanate, the Palestinian President affirmed that the Sultanate’s stance, under the leadership of His Majesty the Sultan, is firm and has never changed since the beginning of the Palestinian issue till date. He expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the Sultanate’s permeanent stances and support for the Palestinian people in all international forums.
“The Israeli settlement is the root-cause of the problem and its continuation hampers the two-state solution,” he added.
As for the Arab Peace Initiative, President Abbas said that it is one of the major solutions presented since 2002. The Initiative, which mandates Israel to withdraw from all Arab and Palestinian occupied lands, has been the key topic of discussion with the US president during the recent visit to Washington.
As for the Palestinian reconciliation, he said “We are doing our best to achieve reconciliation and I call Hamas Movement to allow the National Unity Government to carry out its functions in Gaza”.
During the interview, he pointed out that the meeting with the Arab ambassadors covered the political activity in the upcoming period either this visit to the Sultanate or the previous visits to USA, Germany, India and Russia, as well as the activity during the coming US- rab
Islamic summit in Riyadh.
As for the US-Arab Islamic summit that will be held in Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, he said that the summit will focus on a range of issues the most important of which is to implement the Arab Initiative, the two-state solution and terrorism fighting.
“I hope that this summit will be a springboard with the US administration to solve the Palestinian cause and the Arab issues in general,” he concluded.