The United States has barred Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from attending next month’s United Nations of world leaders gathering in New York where several U.S. allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
A State Department official said Abbas and about 80 other Palestinians would be affected by the decision to deny and revoke visas from members of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.
Abbas had been planning to travel to New York for the annual high-level U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in Manhattan. He was also set to attend a summit there - hosted by France and Saudi Arabia - where Britain, France, Australia and Canada have pledged to formally recognize a Palestinian state.
Abbas' office said it was astonished by the visa decision and argued that it violated the U.N. "headquarters agreement."
Under a 1947 U.N. "headquarters agreement," the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the U.N. in New York. Washington, however, has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
