RAMALALH, February 19, 2018 (WAFA) - President Mahmud Abbas arrived in New York on Monday ahead of his address at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.

Palestine’s permanent representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told the official Voice of Palestine radio on Monday that President Abbas will demand in his speech at the Security Council from the world body to shoulder its responsibilities and implement the two-state solution as well as stand up to US President Donald Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem and put an end to the ordeal and tragedy of the Palestinian people due to Israeli occupation.

Mansour said meetings were held with Arab ambassadors during which a team was formed to hold separate meetings with Security Council members to survey their opinion on applying for full membership for Palestine in UN.

He added that President Abbas will meet on Tuesday with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and current chair of Security Council, the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mansour Aloteibi.

Meanwhile, member of Fatah Central Committee Jamal Moheisen said that President Abbas will emphasize in his Security Council speech the national constants and will demand a new international mechanism for the peace process with a defined timeline away from American sponsorship of the peace talks.

He said Abbas will stress that the Palestinian leadership will not relinquish the establishment of an independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Moheisen said in an interview with Voice of Palestine radio on Monday that the US administration is seeking, through the Deal of the Century, a regional solution to the Palestinian issue at a time when the US also continues its influence in the Arab region, while starting conflicts in the Arab world to drain its capabilities and distance it from the central conflict with Israel.

C.K./K.T.M.K