Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas reaches Riyadh
World
Abbas is set to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman today
RIYADH (Web Desk) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Riyadh on Monday, Saudi Press Agency reported.
He was received at King Khalid International Airport by the Deputy Governor of Riyadh Region Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and other officials.
President Abbas is scheduled to meet with the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The President is accompanied by the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Hussein Al-Sheikh, Head of the General Intelligence Service Major-General Majed Faraj, Presidential Adviser for Diplomatic Affairs Majdi Al-Khalidi and Palestinian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Basem Al-Agha.
Abbas is set to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday (today). The paper notes that the visit has already been postponed twice, and its official purpose is to discuss ways to halt the war.
The meeting does not involve a request for financial aid from the PA, it adds. Saudi officials indicated before October 7 that direct financial support to Ramallah, which was halted in 2021, would resume if the PA greenlights the kingdom’s normalization with Israel and increases efforts to curb corruption.
Abbas’s visit to Riyadh was initially supposed to take place earlier this month but was pushed off following Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Palestinian official said.
Within the next two weeks, Abbas is also scheduled to visit Egypt and meet with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
The Qatari paper says that Abbas’s visit to the Gaza Strip will be on the agenda, and he is likely to request to pass through Egypt, prior to approval of the US and Israel.
