CAIRO: Foreign Minister Nabil Al-Araby on Sunday called on the United States to recognize a Palestinian state, as rival Palestinian factions prepare to sign a reconciliation accord in Cairo.
Al-Araby urged visiting US Congressman Steve Chabot to "press Congress and the American administration to recognise a Palestinian state."
Recognition "would correspond with previous statements by the American administration supporting peace based on two states," the official MENA news agency quoted him as saying.
Al-Araby, who held talks on the Arab-Israeli conflict with Chabot, also called on the United States to "exert efforts to hold an international Middle East peace conference," MENA said.
Palestinian factions are preparing to sign a deal in Cairo on Wednesday after president Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction and its bitter foe Hamas agreed to form a government that would prepare for elections in a year.
US President Barack Obama’s administration relaunched direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in September only to see them grind to a halt three weeks later over Israel’s settlements construction in the West Bank.
