UN secretary-general to visit Ramallah next Wednesday

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Ramallah next Wednesday for meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas , it was officially announced here Friday. Palestinian sources said Ki-Moon and Abbas will have talks focussing on the Israeli grave military escalation against the Gaza Strip in particular and the entire situation in the occupied Arab lands in general . Israel is conducting a military campaign that killed about 22 Palestinians so far, including the Hamas military Chief Ahmed Al-Jaabari and left 335 others injured. Hamas vowed that Israel will pay a “high price” for his assassination. The talks will also figure high on the palestinian political drive to gain an international recognition at the United Nations a non-member or observer status . An Arab group delegation, comprising the Ambassadors of Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar, Sudan, Palestine and the League of Arab States, met late Thursday with Ban in New York, to discuss the escalation of the conflict in Gaza and the need to stop the bloodshed. The delegation asked Ban to “use his good offices for bringing an end to this aggression against our people,” Palestinian Ambassador Ryad Mansour told reporters following the meeting. The delegation also met earlier in the day with the Security Council President Hardeep Singh Puri of India and presented to him elements for a “draft resolution or Presidential statement” to be adopted by the Council next week, the diplomat said. Meanwhile Israeli ‘Haaretz’ newspaper had recently said that UN Secretary-General will visit Israel next Tuesday for talks with Israeli Premier Netanyanhu to discuss easing the situation with the Palestinians and reviving the stalled middle east peace process.