Report: Lebanon Likely to Boycott Bahrain Conference on Palestine
Lebanon is likely to boycott an economic conference in Bahrain next month in support of Washington's Middle East peace plan, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Monday.
The daily said that Lebanon has not yet received an invitation to attend the conference in Manama, but plans to boycott if an invitation was received.
A Lebanese diplomat told the daily on condition of anonymity that Lebanon would apologize for attending even if it received an invitation because it “refuses to discuss an economic plan for Palestine before a political solution is achieved.”
“No negotiations about the economy of the Palestinian state before the adoption of a political solution to the issue, and a decision on the fate of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, in addition to rejecting normalization,” said the source on condition of anonymity.
The source pointed out that “the plan of first adviser to US President Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner did not receive the expected echo. The Palestinian authority and Palestinian businessmen rejected the conference which will probably affect the political part of the deal of the century.”
The White House had earlier announced it would co-host the June 25-26 conference with Bahrain focusing on economic aspects of the long-delayed peace plan, with the declared aim of achieving Palestinian prosperity.
Last week, the Palestinian leadership said it was not consulted over the economic conference in support of Washington's Middle East peace plan and no party was entitled to negotiate on its behalf.
The US peace plan is expected to feature proposals for regional economic development that would include Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
Source: Naharnet, Agence France Presse
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