Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is calling for an international peace conference to be convened by the middle of this year to try to break the impasse in the Middle East peace process. “We are ready to begin negotiations immediately in order to achieve the freedom and independence of our people,” Abbas said. The Palestinian president spoke to a packed council chamber in New York and his remarks were greeted with lengthy applause. As soon he finished speaking, Abbas left the room, skipping both the Israeli and U.S. ambassadors’ remarks, which, respectively, followed his. “I sit here today offering the outstretched hand of the United States to the Palestinian people in the cause of peace,” Haley said.

Source: Ethiopian News February 20, 2018 18:21 UTC