Masum stresses Iraq’s solidarity with Palestinians to have independent state
Iraqi President Fuad Masum
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – Iraqi President Fuad Masum stressed on Tuesday his country’s solidarity with the Palestinian people in their bids to attain their legitimate rights and establish their own state.
During a phone call with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas, Masum stressed that Iraq stands by the Palestinian people in their struggle to have an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem (Al Quds) as its capital.
Masum further congratulated Abbas on the success of a surgery he underwent last week and invited him to visit Iraq soon, according to the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA).
Abbas, meanwhile, praised Iraq’s stance in support of the Palestinian people to have their own state.
He also congratulated Masum and the Iraqi people on the holding of parliamentary elections for the first time since the defeat of Islamic State group.
Last week, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari slammed the U.S. decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv into Jerusalem, warning that this action provokes feelings of Arabs and Muslims everywhere and represents a step of war.
“The U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem represents a step of war and provokes feelings of Arabs and Muslims everywhere,” Jaafari told an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.
Jaafari said the U.S. embassy relocation decision represents a flagrant violation of human rights and international resolutions on that score.
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting that rebuked Israel after its forces killed scores of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border. The clashes came at the same day the U.S. opened its new embassy in Jerusalem.