By NNN-WAFA,
Ramallah : Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that the issue of refugees is essential not less than the issues of Jerusalem, borders and other key issues raised at the negotiating table.
During a visit to al-Ao’ouda camp in Ramallah city, he said that the Palestinian people can not forget the right of return, because the return is one right of the people’s rights.
“We recall that the Arab initiative speaks expressly for a just and agreed solution of the refugee problem according to UN resolution 194, ” he said.
President Abbas made it clear that the Palestinian people live in more than 60 years in this calamity and ‘we remember that our people live in more than 60 years in this calamity struggling and defending.’
The President noted that the UN resolution 194 was buried in 1949 and revitalized in 2002, stressing adherence of the Palestinian people in this international resolution.
‘We are negotiating and we absolutely know our constants and we know quite well our rights and we defend them. We want to get through to a just peace and we are serious about this. We want the Arab and international community to support us to reach peace,’ President Abbas said.
President called for working to implement calm in the Gaza Strip, pointing out that the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip are suffering bitterness.
PLO National and Relation Department said that the number of Palestinian refugees reach 4.5 million, of whom about 1.5 million living in 59 camps in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
In a statement on Tuesday, it revealed that the results of the catastrophe occurred the Palestinians led to the displacement of about 800,000 Palestinians, of whom 350,000 were displaced by the war in 1967.
The statement stated that 531 Palestinian villages were destroyed, 15,000 citizens were killed and committing more than 30 carnage against Palestinians were committed as well as the confiscation of 17 Million acres owned by Palestinians before the year 1948.
The PLO Department stressed that the right of return is fixed and legitimate right of the Palestinian people, calling on the international community to move hard to restore the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people in accordance with the decisions of Arab legitimacy and UN resolutions, especially Resolution No. 194.
Meanwhile, President received on Tuesday a telephone call from Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman who briefed him on the outcomes of his visit to Israel.
Suleiman also briefed Abbas on the exerted Egyptians efforts to elevate the sufferings of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
President Abbas also received on Tuesday in the Presidential HQ in Ramallah US Consul General in Jerusalem Jack Walles.
The meeting comes as a preparation for the forthcoming meeting between President Abbas and US President Bush in Sharm El-Sheikh in May 17.
During the meeting, they discussed the process of the Palestinian –Israeli negotiations.