Cheering Crowds Welcome Abbas Home from U.N.
Thousands of cheering Palestinians welcomed their president Mahmoud Abbas at his Ramallah headquarters on Sunday as he returned from delivering a historic U.N. membership bid.
An Agence France Presse reporter saw Abbas descend from his motorcade and enter the presidential building known as the Muqataa.
He walked solemnly into the compound accompanied by a presidential honor guards, and immediately to the grave of his predecessor Yasser Arafat where he laid a wreath.
As the crowd chanted "with our souls and our blood we will sacrifice for you Palestine," Abbas spoke of his request to the U.N. on Friday for a state of Palestine to be admitted as a full member of the world body.
"We went to the United Nations carrying your hopes, your dreams, your ambitions, your suffering, your vision and your need for an independent Palestinian state," he said.
"There will be no negotiations (with Israel) without international legitimacy and a complete halt to settlements," Abbas told thousands of cheering Palestinians who massed at his presidential headquarters.
Source: Agence France Presse
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