US again denies Mahmoud Abbas visa for UN General Assembly

The United States has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a visa to attend the UN General Assembly in New York. According to the US State Department, this decision was made due to the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Palestinian Authority not living up to their commitments.

The restrictions were imposed over actions by the PA and PLO, including attempts to internationalise the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice, and pursuing unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. The US also accused the groups of backing terrorists.

The 80th session of the General Assembly is set to begin next week. Despite the visa denial, the US State Department has maintained a standing waiver for personnel notified to the PLO Observer Mission to the United Nations, allowing accredited Palestinian representatives to attend. This is not the first time Mr Abbas has been denied a visa, as he was also denied one ahead of last year's General Assembly.

Brief written by urgent.news from Daily Times, The National UAE, The National Business — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.