President Mahmoud Abbas raising the Palestinian flag on the embassy in the Vatican. WAFA photo by Thayer Ghanayem 

VATICAN CITY, January 14, 2017 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas inaugurated on Saturday the Embassy of Palestine in the Vatican shortly after having an audience with Pope Francis.

The President, who raised the Palestinian flag from the balcony of the embassy, said after the inauguration that he discussed with Pope Francis the peace process and “we emphasized the importance of fighting terrorism and extremism everywhere in the world.”

He also said he briefed the Pope on the international peace conference, which will be held in Paris on Sunday, as well as UN Security Council resolution 2334 on Israeli settlements, which Abbas expressed hope will be implemented soon.

Abbas urged world governments to recognize Palestine, saying “the more the world recognizes Palestine, the closer we get to achieving peace.”

Asked about plans by the new US administration to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, President Abbas said: “We heard in the media that the new US administration wants to move the embassy to Jerusalem. We hope that this is not true because it will not be encouraging and will impede the peace process.”

Abbas called on US President-elect Donald Trump to “start a dialogue for peace between us and the Israelis.”

During the brief audience with the Pope, President Abbas presented him with replicas of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, as well as a book on the historic relations between Palestine and the Vatican and a painting by a Palestinian-Armenian artist of Cremisan valley and the separation wall in Bethlehem.

Pope Francis presented Abbas with a book about the history of the Holy See and a medal entitled “Mercy.”

M.K.