US extends visa sanctions barring Abbas from UN General Assembly
The renewed restrictions prevent the Palestinian president from travelling to New York for a second consecutive year, while a waiver allows regular mission staff to continue working at the UN.
The United States has extended visa sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials and Palestine Liberation Organisation members, preventing President Mahmoud Abbas from travelling to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly for a second consecutive year.
The US Department of State said the restrictions reflected what it described as failures by the Palestinian Authority to reform and continuing activities that undermine the prospects for peace. It did not provide the full list of affected officials or specify the detailed terms and duration of the sanctions.
The department accused the Palestinian Authority of pursuing recognition of Palestinian statehood outside direct negotiations, taking its dispute with Israel to international courts and providing payments to people whom US and Israeli authorities describe as convicted attackers and their families.
The Palestinian mission to the UN will retain a waiver under the UN Headquarters Agreement, allowing its regular staff to work in New York even as individual officials are barred from entering the United States.
Abbas had been expected to advocate international recognition of Palestinian statehood and renewed momentum for a two-state solution, while drawing attention to the humanitarian situation in Gaza and developments in the occupied West Bank. The restrictions imposed last year drew criticism from Palestinian officials and UN human rights experts, who argued that the bans breach US obligations to allow people invited by the UN to travel to its headquarters.
