Official: Arab League chief to visit Palestine

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi will visit Palestine on Dec. 29 to meet with Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, the PA foreign minister said Friday. Riyad al-Malki said al-Arabi would discuss the financial safety net pledged by the Arab League to the Palestinian Authority to ease the West Bank government’s financial crisis. Al-Arabi will update Abbas on regional contributors to the fund, al-Malki told Ma’an. Al-Malki said the Arab League chief and Abbas would discuss Palestine’s next steps following its admission as a non-member state to the UN, a move that prompted Israel to withhold the PA’s revenue, exacerbating the fiscal crisis. The officials will also talk about a decision by the Arab League follow-up committee to send ministerial delegations for consultations with the UN Security Council to end Israeli settlement expansion and release Palestinian prisoners of Israel. Arab foreign ministers will accompany al-Arabi on the one-day visit, al-Malki said.