President Abbas meets with Latvian President in New York

NEW YORK: President Mahmoud Abbas met Tuesday with the President of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics , on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During the meeting, President Abbas expressed his pride in the bilateral Palestinian-Latvian relations, based on friendship and mutual cooperation, while affirming his keenness to develop and advance them in various fields. He reiterated Palestine's position calling for an end to the ongoing Israeli genocidal aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the entire Gaza Strip, the entry of humanitarian aid to all parts of the Strip, Gaza reconstruction and the prevention of forced displacement of Gazans. He stressed the importance of the successive recognitions by the European Union countries of the State of Palestine, a step which he believes would give the Palestinian people hope for the possibility of achieving their aspi rations for freedom and independence. He urged the President of Latvia to translate the strong friendship between the two countries into recognizing the State of Palestine and supporting Palestine's bid for full membership of the United Nations, so that this would pave the way for commencing a political path based on United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, to end the Israeli occupation and realize the establishment of the Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He also stressed the need for international efforts to compel Israel to respect United Nations resolutions and rulings of international courts, including the recent UNGA resolution demanding an end to the Israeli occupation. The President appreciated Latvia's vote in favor of the UNGA resolution and support for the programs of the United Nations for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). For his part, the President of Latvia affirmed his country's position in support of the two-state solution and reaching a political solutio n that would achieve peace and security for all, noting his country's aspiration to strengthen relations of cooperation and friendship with Palestine. Source: Palestine news & Information Agency - WAFA