Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Palestinian minister: We will return 18,000 Iraqi Palestinians to West Bank

The Palestinian Authority will attempt to return some 18,000 Palestinian refugees currently in Iraq to the West Bank, Palestinian Minister of Information Riyad al-Malki said yesterday. Israel recently approved the return of 40 Palestinians from Iraq to the Palestinian territories. According to Maliki, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has designated him to lead the Palestinian campaign to bring Iraqi refugees to the West Bank. Maliki has pro-actively contacted senior Israeli and Knesset officials to encourage them to permit the refugees' entry into the West Bank. “So far, the Israelis have agreed to let in just a small group of refugees. We’ll continue to make every effort so the Palestinian refugees in Iraq can come back to the territories,” Malki said.

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