Saturday, February 11, 2012
- Lahore: Shopping centre caught fire in Gulberg
- Australia beat Sri Lanka by 5 runs, remain unbeaten in tri-series
- Blasts, firing near PTIs rally leave 7 injured in Swabi
- Imran says will shoot down drones if comes to power
- 25 killed, 175 injured in Syria blasts
- Aqib Javed resigns as bowling coach
- NATO supplies from Pakistani airspace never stopped: Pentagon
- 11 militants killed, 19 injured in Orakzai operation
- Mansoor Ijaz to record statement via videolink on Feb 22
- LHC adjourns hearing of petition against TCP
Abbas in diplomatic offensive after airstrikes
RIYADH (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Saudi King Abdullah on Saturday called for an immediate halt to Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian diplomatic source said.
"President Abbas and the Saudi sovereign discussed developments in the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and agreed to denounce it forcefully and urge an immediate halt to it," the source told AFP by telephone from Rawdat Kharim south of Riyadh after the two leaders met.
Abbas also urged the king "to intercede urgently with active international parties, especially the United States, to exert pressure on Israel to end its aggression against Gaza," the source added.
The Palestinian leader also briefed the king on "recent efforts to relaunch the inter-Palestinian dialogue and efforts by Egypt to bring about a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation."
Earlier Abbas said he was in "urgent contact" with several states over Saturday's deadly Israeli aerial blitz that also wounded more than 300 people. "We have carried out urgent contacts with numerous Arab countries and other nations to stop the cowardly aggressions and massacres in the Gaza Strip," he told AFP by telephone from Saudi Arabia.
"We will also contact Egypt, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations with the aim of stopping the aggression and restoring the truce," he said. A six-month Egyptian-mediated truce between Israel and Hamas expired on December 19 amid continued violations.
King Abdullah of Jordan also contacted Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to "launch an Arab and international initiative aimed at ending the Israeli aggression," the palace in Amman said. The king urged a "return to negotiations which are the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," it said in a statement.
"Abdullah called in the international community to accept its legal and moral responsibility towards the Palestinian people by demanding that Israel stops its aggression against the Gaza strip."
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in a statement also "vigorously condemned the Israeli aggression in Gaza" and called for "its immediate end."
"President Abbas and the Saudi sovereign discussed developments in the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and agreed to denounce it forcefully and urge an immediate halt to it," the source told AFP by telephone from Rawdat Kharim south of Riyadh after the two leaders met.
Abbas also urged the king "to intercede urgently with active international parties, especially the United States, to exert pressure on Israel to end its aggression against Gaza," the source added.
The Palestinian leader also briefed the king on "recent efforts to relaunch the inter-Palestinian dialogue and efforts by Egypt to bring about a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation."
Earlier Abbas said he was in "urgent contact" with several states over Saturday's deadly Israeli aerial blitz that also wounded more than 300 people. "We have carried out urgent contacts with numerous Arab countries and other nations to stop the cowardly aggressions and massacres in the Gaza Strip," he told AFP by telephone from Saudi Arabia.
"We will also contact Egypt, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations with the aim of stopping the aggression and restoring the truce," he said. A six-month Egyptian-mediated truce between Israel and Hamas expired on December 19 amid continued violations.
King Abdullah of Jordan also contacted Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to "launch an Arab and international initiative aimed at ending the Israeli aggression," the palace in Amman said. The king urged a "return to negotiations which are the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," it said in a statement.
"Abdullah called in the international community to accept its legal and moral responsibility towards the Palestinian people by demanding that Israel stops its aggression against the Gaza strip."
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in a statement also "vigorously condemned the Israeli aggression in Gaza" and called for "its immediate end."
This news was published in print paper. Access complete paper of this day.
Latest Stories
© 2012 Nawaiwaqt Group of Newspapers - All Rights Reserved
Comments