Posted by Shoaib-ur-Rehman Siddiqui
BUSINESS RECORDER
RAMALLAH: Jordan’s King Abdullah II flew in to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday for the first visit by a top foreign leader since the Palestinians gained upgraded United Nations status.
The monarch arrived by military helicopter from Jordan, landing at the presidential headquarters known as the Muqataa, where he was greeted by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials.
“We and our Palestinian people and its leadership welcome this historic visit, which comes after Palestine became a (non-member) observer at the United Nations,” presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in a statement carried on the official news agency WAFA.
The Palestinians “highly appreciate the important role his majesty and Jordan played internationally and regionally and at the UN to achieve this important historical achievement,” he said.
The Jordanian king was welcomed by a military honour guard at the Muqataa, where Jordanian flags where raised alongside Palestinian ones.
He was accompanied by a delegation including his Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
The visit is the first time a head of state has visited Ramallah since the Palestinians won non-member observer state status at the United Nations on November 29.
The 138-9 vote at the General Assembly was cheered by many Palestinians, although they acknowledged it will change little on the ground in the short term.
But it was fiercely opposed by both Israel and the United States, with the Jewish state quickly responding with punitive measures.
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Israel, Jordan, Palestine