PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi (right) and Swedish Consul General Ann-Sofie Nilsson.

RAMALLAH, April 18, 2017 (WAFA) – The upcoming visit to Sweden and her planned meeting with officials there was the focus of the Tuesday meeting held in Ramallah between Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and Swedish Consul General Ann-Sofie Nilsson.

Ashrawi and Nilsson reviewed plans for the former‘s visit to Stockholm in early May in which she will conduct separate meetings with Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström and State Secretary for Foreign Ministers Annika Söder, participate in the fourth annual Stockholm Forum on Security and Development, and give a lecture at the Swedish Institute for International Affairs, according to a statement issued by Ashrawi’s office.

The discussion also focused on the latest international and regional developments, as well as the escalation of Israel‘s violations against the Palestinians and its efforts to crush the hunger strike with draconian and punitive measures that include the suspension of family visits, the isolation of hunger-striking prisoners and the transfer of prisoners such as Palestinian Parliamentarian Marwan Barghouti to solitary confinement.

Both parties also discussed Swedish-Palestinian relations, and in that context, Ashrawi stressed, "It is important that other countries follow suit and, like Sweden, recognize the state of Palestine to demonstrate their commitment to peace and justice."

M.K.