Abbas meets Chinese, North Korean leaders

Shanghai - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday in Shanghai, where he also held talks with North Korean's number two leader Kim Yong Nam, reports said.

Chinese state media said Abbas thanked Hu for China's support, quoting Abbas as saying the Chinese and Palestinian people had a "long-established, profound friendship."

Hu told Abbas that his visit would "help deepen the friendship between the two nations and carry forward the China-Palestine friendship cause," the official Xinhua news agency reported without giving details of the talks.

Ahead of his visit, Abbas told the agency that China could play "an important role as a neutral party" in pushing the Middle East peace process.

"China's prestige as a great nation has given it an international leverage and balanced positions," Abbas was quoted as saying.

He said he planned to discuss the Middle East peace process with Hu in Shanghai.

Israel and the Palestinians will start indirect peace talks next week, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.

Abbas attended Friday's opening of World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, along with Hu and some 20 other international leaders.

The Palestinian leader also held talks with Kim Yong Nam on Thursday in Shanghai, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

Abbas received a message via Kim from North Korea's top leader, Kim Jong Il, and said the Palestinian people regarded the North Koreans as their "closest friends," KCNA said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/321483,abbas-meets-chinese-north-korean-leaders.html.