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CAIRO, Dec (KUNA) -- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh Al-Maliki Saturday said US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel was an "assault on the Palestinian people and their rights."
US President Donald Trump's recogntion of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and his decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city is an assault on international law and UN Charter, which do not legalize illegal annexation, said Al-Maliki.
He was speaking before an urgent Arab foreign ministers' meeting, called by Jordan and Palestinian, following the US decision.
This decision is a "clear violation of the 1993 letter of guarantees in which the US confirmed to the Palestine Liberation Organization its commitment not to recognize Jerusalem as capital of Israel ...," said Al-Maliki
This decision, he added, disqualified the US as a mediator in the peace process, and it showed how America was "biased and hostile towards rights of the Palestinian people."
The Palestinian top diplomat regretted the American short-sighted policy which aimed at aborting every chance of peace.
Any decision by Israel or the US about Jerusalem, he said, would not change the fact that the West Bank and Gaza Strip including East Jerusalem were occupied territories.
Al-Maliki called on countries which recognized the State of Palestine to recognize East Jerusalem as its capital.
Meanwhile, Jordanian Foreign Minister Aiman Al-Safadi said the change of the identity of Jerusalem was a "crime."
The region will not be stable unless the Palestinians feel safe and realize their independence with East Jerusalem as their capital, he said. (pickup previous)
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