US President Donald Trump arrived for talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud" />

‘We must build bridges not walls,’ Abbas says as Trump visits Bethlehem

23 May, 2017 | Filed under: All News,more news,Opinion,RECENT POSTS,Somali news | Posted by:

US President Donald Trump arrived for talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday as they seek ways to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

In a joint press conference between the two leaders, Abbas said it was crucial that “bridges, not walls are built in our lands.”

Trump said he was looking forward to cooperate with the Palestinian president and provide economic support. He said that achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace would achieve stability across the Middle East.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stands next to U.S. President Donald Trump during a reception ceremony
at the presidential headquarters in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, May 23, 2017. (Reuters)

Earlier in the week, Trump had been visiting Saudi Arabia. In his meeting with Abbas, Trump said that Saudi Arabia’s King Salman was “very wise” in discussions to fight terrorism and extremism.

Trump arrived at the presidential palace in the West Bank city, located only about a 20-minute drive from Jerusalem but across Israel’s controversial separation wall.

Trump also used the conference to condemn a terrorist attack in the British city Manchester on Monday which killed 22 people, including children. The president called the perpetrators of the attack “evil losers.”

On Monday, Trump held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Trump greeted Abbas outside the presidential palace and the two men walked along a red carpet onto its grounds.

He has spoken of reviving long-stalled peace efforts between the Israelis and Palestinians, but few specifics have emerged of how he intends to do so.

“I’ve heard it’s one of the toughest deals of all, but I have a feeling that we’re going to get there eventually, I hope,” Trump said on Monday night.

Later Tuesday, Trump will return to Jerusalem to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and give a speech at the Israel Museum before wrapping up his two-day stop and flying on to Europe.

Source:english.alarabiya.net