Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will travel to France Thursday for "important" meetings on resuming peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the chief Palestinian negotiator said Wednesdaym, dpa reported.
On Friday, Abbas will meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a day after he meets French President Francois Hollande, the High Commissioner for Foreign and Security Policy in the European Union Catherine Ashton and the foreign ministers of Britain and Norway, said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.
Erekat added that the two-day visit aims at seeking international pressure on Israel to release Palestinian prisoners, especially those held in prison since and before 1993.
Financial difficulties facing the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is also one of the points to be discussed by Abbas in the meetings.
On Tuesday, Palestinian Finance Minister Nabil Qasis announced that the PNA is unable to pay this month salaries to its employees, numbering about 150,000, due to lack of foreign aid and the worsening financial crisis.
A political adviser to Abbas, Nimer Hammad, said that the budget deficit facing the PNA threatens its ability to fulfill its obligations. Hammad continued that Abbas will insist that all international parties must not allow the situation to worsen, as this year's budget deficit exceeds the sum of one billion U.S. dollar.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been stalled since early October 2010 following disputes over Israeli continuous settlement construction.