PLO TOP NEGOTIATOR EREKAT BEGINS FOUR-DAY TRIP TO CHILE

Chief Palestinian negotiator Erekat begins tour of Chile (Photo: MEMO)

Al-Quds, 4 Dhulqo’dah 1436/19 August 2015 (MINA) – Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat arrived in Chile as part of his tour of South America that began earlier this week in Argentina.

Erekat, who will stay in Chile for four days, met with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and handed her a personal letter from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The meeting was attended by officials from the Palestinian Embassy in Chile.

Sources reported that Erekat informed Bachelet of the Palestinian president’s intention to grant her Palestine’s highest order of the Star of Honour in September at the United Nations headquarters for her support for the Palestinian cause. Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

He went on to thank Bachelet for granting the Chilean citizenship to 65 Palestinian refugees who had arrived in 2007 in a ceremony held in the presidential palace in July.

Earlier, Erekat met with Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz and briefed him on the current political situation including the Israeli rejection of a settlement process and the two-state solution.

Erekat has also met with the Chile-Palestine Friendship Committee as well as representatives of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Senate and the Congress. Chile is home to the largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East. (T/P002/RO6)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)