Egypt's Sisi and Abbas discuss ways of respose

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi underlined during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on Monday, Egypt’s firm stance against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer the US embassy to it.

The Egyptian presidency said in a statement after the meeting that the two leaders agreed to “continue coordination and intensive consultation and use the international momentum against the recent American decision to preserve the rights of the Palestinian people and work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

The statement quoted Sisi as saying that he “stressed Egypt’s firm position on the need to preserve the historic and legal status of Jerusalem within the framework of international resolutions... with Egypt continuing to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

The Egyptian president also told Abbas that the Palestinian reconciliation process should be maintained as a “key strategic option, in light of the unprecedented dangers facing the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem.”

Abbas said during the meeting: “The recent US decision came as a surprise despite all the flexibility shown by the Palestinian Authority and its willingness to reach a solution… based to the borders of the fourth of June 1967.”

Abbas left Cairo for Istanbul, where he will deliver a speech at the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), following talks with Sisi and Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit, with whom he discussed developments in the US decision.

According to a statement issued by the Arab League, Aboul Gheit “listened to a detailed explanation by the Palestinian president about the steps that the Palestinian side intends to take to respond to this unfair American step that isolated the United States and undermined its role as a historic sponsor of the peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”

“The Arab consensus on rejecting and condemning the American decision is clear and solid,” Aboul Gheit told the Palestinian president.

“The Arab League will continue to use the diplomatic and media paths in order to translate this consensus into concrete steps,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Arab Parliament underlined the need to hold an emergency Arab Summit “to mobilize all powers to end the Israeli occupation of the territory of the State of Palestine and its eternal capital Jerusalem.”

The Arab Parliament issued a decision at the end of its emergency session on Monday, calling for “an effective Arab action plan at all levels, through the League of Arab States, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab Parliament and the establishment of an open-ended committee for this purpose.”