RAMALLAH, December 28, 2016 (WAFA) – Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, denied Wednesday reports about leaked minutes of his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington two weeks ago.

He said that while the names of the delegation and the statement published after the meeting that was mentioned in these reports were correct, yet the minutes were fabricated and intended only to serve interest of people close to Israeli Minister of Security Avigdor Lieberman and Austrian financier Martin Schlaff.

The reports claimed that Kerry and the Barack Obama administration have conspired with the Palestinians to pass a Security Council resolution on settlements. The resolution passed on Friday with 14 members voting in favor and the US abstaining, which infuriated Israel.

Erekat said those people whom he said had fabricated the minutes had also described the Security Council resolution as shameful and a scandal, which are the terms used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lieberman to describe the resolution.

He said the report does not harm the Palestinians who consider the resolution a victory for Palestine and its people.

“The leaked minutes are lies and half-truths” said Erekat. “They were leaked to serve Netanyahu and Lieberman’s wars against the international community who championed international law and considered all of Israel’s, the occupying power, dictates and settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in East Jerusalem, illegal and a gross violation of international law.”

M.K.