Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas holds a placard showing maps of (from left to right) historical Palestine, the 1947 United Nations partition plan on Palestine, the 1948-67 borders between the Palestinian territories and Israel, and a current map of the Palestinian territories without Israeli-annexed areas and settlements, as he attends an Arab League emergency meeting discussing the US-brokered proposal for a settlement of the Middle East conflict at the league's headquarters in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday held a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah with visiting US senior diplomats ahead of an expected visit of US President Joe Biden.

During the meeting, Abbas called on the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from the list of terror organizations and reopen the US consulate in East Jerusalem.

Abbas said the PLO "is a full peace partner and had signed a series of peace agreements, sponsored by the US, with Israel," the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Abbas also urged the US side to work on reopening the closed offices of the PLO in Washington, noting that the PLO "is committed to the peace process and stopping all unilateral actions."

According to WAFA, Leaf reiterated that the US is committed to the two-state solution and the mission of her delegation "is to prepare for the visit of President Joe Biden, who wants to meet Abbas."

She said that Biden would discuss with Abbas strengthening the Palestinian-American partnership and relations and finding ways to stop the escalation in the region and move to the political horizon.

"The US administration is keen to create an appropriate environment and to give hope to the Palestinians and all peoples of the region," Leaf said in a statement, according to the news agency WAFA.

Xinhua