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Abbas Says Syria, Lebanon 'Receptive' to Upgrading Ties
 Syria and Lebanon were "very receptive" to Palestinian requests to upgrade relations with them, PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in Jordan after landmark visits to both countries. "We asked Syria to raise the status from a representation to an embassy and in Lebanon, we asked to open an embassy. They were very receptive," Abbas told reporters here. The Palestine Liberation Organization has a representative office in Syria, where Abbas led a high-powered Palestinian delegation earlier this week for talks with President Bashar Assad to mend strained ties.The delegation, that included Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, then visited Lebanon, home to about 400,000 Palestinian, more than half of who live in miserable conditions in impoverished camps. The trip to Beirut was the first by top Palestinians since the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was forced out of Lebanon a year after the 1982 Israeli invasion. Abbas expressed his satisfaction with the talks in Damascus and Beirut, which he said also focused on "the future of the Middle East peace process". Posted by: Fred 2004-12-10 |
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