US Bars Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas From UN Assembly

The United States on Friday said that it would not allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from attending the UN General Assembly session in New York next month after he and 80 other Palestinian officials had their visas revoked, BBC reported. At the meeting, several US allies are set to recognise Palestine as a state. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed them for undermining peace efforts and for seeking "the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state". The decision, however, was welcomed by Israel. 

Abbas and the others are affected as the decision is to revoke visas from members of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Abbas is also in charge of the PLO - the umbrella organisation which represents Palestinians at international forums.

Britain, France, Australia and Canada have pledged to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

Abbas' office said it was astonished by the visa decision, which "stands in clear contradiction to international law and the UN Headquarters Agreement, particularly since the State of Palestine is an observer member of the United Nations". It urged the US to reverse the move, Reuters reported. A UN General Assembly "cannot be subject to any restrictions on access," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters.

Several other leaders deemed the move as unacceptable. Under a 1947 U.N. "headquarters agreement," the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the U.N. in New York. Washington, however, has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.