Washington, Dec 8 (AFP) The White House warned today thatcanceling a planned meeting between Palestinian presidentMahmud Abbas and Vice President Mike Pence in the wake of theUS policy shift on Jerusalem would be "counterproductive."Amid indications that Abbas may withdraw from a plannedmeeting later this month, a White House aide said Pence "stillplans to meet with Abbas as scheduled" and "believes it wouldbe counterproductive for him to pull out of the meeting."Pence is due to travel to Egypt and Israel in the secondhalf of December, a visit that has taken on extra significancein the wake of President Donald Trump's decision to recogniseJerusalem as Israel's capital.
Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of Abbas's Fatah party,told AFP that Pence was "not welcome in Palestine" during hisupcoming visit.
Rajoub also signaled that Abbas would not meet withPence.
"And President Abbas will not welcome him because of thestatements he made" about Jerusalem.
Abbas has not made similar comments and his office couldnot immediately be reached.
Trump's move to recognise Jerusalem as the capital ofIsrael sparked Palestinian protests, sporadic clashes and acall for a new intifada today as fears grew of fresh bloodshedin the region.
Some Palestinian leaders have indicated that they nolonger consider the United States an honest broker in thepeace process.
Pence's trip now risks becoming a lightning rod forPalestinian anger.
In an effort to keep the trip on the rails, the WhiteHouse is likely to only consider the meeting canceled if theyhear that from Abbas himself.
Breaking off ties with Washington in such a public waywould be risky, but the 82-year-old Palestinian leader couldbe under fierce domestic pressure to make the snub. (AFP)AQS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.