Medvedev begins 'historic' West Bank visit

Tue, 18 Jan 2011

Ramallah - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev starts Tuesday what Palestinians have described as a "historic" visit to the Palestinian territory.

Medvedev, on his first official visit to the area, will arrive in West Bank city of Jericho from Jordan in the early afternoon. He had been slated to arrive in Israel first, but canceled his visit following a strike by Israeli foreign ministry employees.

The president is scheduled to hold official talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jericho and sign cooperation agreements before returning to Jordan in the evening in the second leg of his visit to the region.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat described Medvedev's visit as "historic and very important."

He told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the visit has "a message of support for the wise policies of President Mahmoud Abbas regarding the peace process and the building of state institutions."

Russia, he said, has supported efforts to build state institutions, particularly its role in training security forces.

Erekat also said Russia supported Palestinian efforts to get a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement policy in the West Bank.

The resolution is expected to be submitted to the Security Council on Wednesday for discussion but voting is not expected to take place for few more days.

Erekat said the United States has informed the Palestinians that it was opposed to this resolution expressing but he expressed the hope Washington will not veto it when it comes up for voting.

Russia was one of the first countries to have recognized a Palestinian state within the June 1967 borders when it was first declared in 1988 and has allowed the Palestinians to open a full fledged embassy in Moscow.

Medvedev is expected to inaugurate the Russian Museum, recently built in Jericho on land owned by the Russian church, as part of the city's 10,000 years celebration. He will also witness signature of three bilateral cooperation agreements in agriculture, information and sports.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/362837,historic-west-bank-visit.html.