NAM Palestine meet cancelled
6 Aug 2012 8:10 AM IST
A meeting of a NAM committee, that includes India, to support a Palestinian bid for upgraded UN membership, was cancelled at the last minute on Sunday after Israel refused to allow representatives of five countries to enter the occupied West Bank.
The meeting of the 12 representatives of Non-Aligned Movement’s Palestine committee with Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership was scheduled for this evening.
Ministers and representatives were to attend the two-day meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and were to sign a declaration in support of a fresh Palestinian bid seeking upgrading of its status from observer to non-member state. Ministers and representatives from Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cuba and Malaysia were denied permits to enter.
Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs, Sanjay Singh, who was on his way to attend the meeting of 12 NAM members will not be arriving here and return to New Delhi from Amman.
‘Israel has refused to issue entry permit to five senior officials who were expected to attend the meetings so President Mahmoud Abbas was left with no choice but to cancel it,’ an official at the PA Presidency told PTI. Officials at the Israeli foreign ministry said in response that permits were denied to representatives coming from five countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
‘Officials from other countries, which have diplomatic ties with Israel can attend the same without any problems’ Ilana Sthein, deputy spokesperson at the Israeli foreign ministry. ‘In any case, nothing good comes out of these meetings for Israel and we could not have expected something different given that the next NAM conference is scheduled in Tehran later this month,’ Shtein stressed.
The meeting of the 12 representatives of Non-Aligned Movement’s Palestine committee with Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership was scheduled for this evening.
Ministers and representatives were to attend the two-day meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and were to sign a declaration in support of a fresh Palestinian bid seeking upgrading of its status from observer to non-member state. Ministers and representatives from Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cuba and Malaysia were denied permits to enter.
Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs, Sanjay Singh, who was on his way to attend the meeting of 12 NAM members will not be arriving here and return to New Delhi from Amman.
‘Israel has refused to issue entry permit to five senior officials who were expected to attend the meetings so President Mahmoud Abbas was left with no choice but to cancel it,’ an official at the PA Presidency told PTI. Officials at the Israeli foreign ministry said in response that permits were denied to representatives coming from five countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
‘Officials from other countries, which have diplomatic ties with Israel can attend the same without any problems’ Ilana Sthein, deputy spokesperson at the Israeli foreign ministry. ‘In any case, nothing good comes out of these meetings for Israel and we could not have expected something different given that the next NAM conference is scheduled in Tehran later this month,’ Shtein stressed.
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