PARIS: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Friday (Saturday in Manila) that he would “no longer accept” any peace plan proposed by the United States, dealing a pre-emptive blow to a new initiative expected by Washington next year. That move continues to reverberate across the Middle East, and European diplomats are pessimistic about the Trump administration’s peace plan which is being prepared behind closed doors and will be presented to both sides in 2018. “The United States has proven to be a dishonest mediator in the peace process and we will no longer accept any plan from it,” Abbas said at a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. Speaking at the emergency session, US Ambassador Nikki Haley warned that Washington “will remember this day”. Abbas hit out at efforts by the US to intimidate countries ahead of the vote.

Source: Manila Times December 23, 2017 12:33 UTC