Abbas cancels Fatah meeting, flies to Saudi Arabia on surprise visit
No reason given for cancellation of PLO, Fatah meet in Ramallah.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHPalestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Saudi Arabia Tuesday on a surprise visit.He was originally expected to chair a meeting of PLO and Fatah leaders in Ramallah to discuss the second round of talks with Israel, slated for August 14. However, the meeting did not take place and Abbas flew to Jeddah, where he is scheduled to hold talks with King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz.No reason was given for the cancellation of the PLO and Fatah meeting in Ramallah.However, sources in Ramallah said that the meeting could take place after the Muslim feast of Id al-Fitr, which begins Thursday and ends on Sunday.The sources said that Abbas may have called off the meeting due to growing opposition in the PLO and Fatah to his decision to resume the peace talks without a settlement freeze and Israeli acceptance of the pre-1967 lines as the basis for a two state solution.PA officials have condemned recent Israeli plans to continue building housing units in east Jerusalem and some West Bank settlements.
