Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas coming to Dhaka

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is coming to Dhaka for a three-day visit on Feb 1, a spokesperson at the embassy in Dhaka told bdnews24.com.

This will be his first official visit to Bangladesh.

Earlier in February last year, he made a stopover at Dhaka on his way to Japan from Jordan.

He will meet President Md Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali during the visit.

“We are still working on the programme,” the spokesperson said, adding that the President would leave on Feb 3.

Bangladesh has consistently backed the demand of the Palestinian people for an independent and viable state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Dhaka also condemns the Israeli occupation and backs the demand for Palestine’s “full membership” of the UN.

The UN Security Council in adopted a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building in December after the United States abstained from the voting, breaking a long-standing approach of shielding Israel.

But President Donald Trump, who took office on Jan 20, took an extraordinary step and personally intervened in a foreign policy matter before taking office, by speaking with Israeli President Benjamine Netanyahu on the phone.

Trump also tweeted after the vote, “As to the UN, things will be different after Jan 20th.”

Trump has also promised to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move to back Israel that many have seen as endangering the peace process.