Two Palestinian sources told the BBC that Mahmoud Abbas was denied an entry visa for next week's General Assembly. The State Department said it would extend visa denials for PLO members and PA officials, blocking Abbas from New York for a second year. The assembly is expected to vote on Thursday on whether he may speak by video. That is a diplomatic access fight, not a ruling on the Headquarters Agreement.
Two Palestinian sources told the BBC that Mahmoud Abbas was denied an entry visa for next week's General Assembly after Washington extended visa curbs on Palestinian officials. Al Jazeera reports the State Department said it would extend visa denials for PLO members and PA officials, blocking Abbas from New York for a second year. The BBC notes the department statement did not itself name Abbas; the named denial comes from those sources.[1], [2]
The BBC says the UN Headquarters Agreement is meant to let diplomats reach New York, while the US has argued it may refuse visas on security and foreign-policy grounds. Both the BBC and Al Jazeera report the 193-member assembly is expected to vote on Thursday on whether Abbas may address the meeting remotely. Palestinian officials last year called the ban a breach of that agreement, Al Jazeera notes.[1], [2]
Al Jazeera reports the department tied the extension to what it called a failure to reform and to actions that undermine peace, listing ICC and ICJ cases, a search for unilateral recognition, and payments to people the US and Israel call convicted attackers. It said the standing waiver for personnel notified to the PLO Observer Mission remains. The BBC writes that Washington accused the PLO and the PA of failing peace-process commitments.[1], [2]
