UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres congratulated Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday following Ramallah’s assumption of the chair of the G-77 group of nations, Anadolu reports.
Abbas met with Guterres earlier in the day at UN Headquarters in New York as Palestine took on the lead role in the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries and China.
Secretary-General @antonioguterres today met with H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine and congratulated him on assuming the Chairmanship of the G-77. Full readout of their meeting: https://t.co/4rZgJX5rTq @Palestine_UN
— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) January 14, 2019
Guterres “expressed his wishes for a successful year for the Group” during the closed-door meeting, the UN said in a statement.
Abbas also met with UN General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa.
In October, the UN General Assembly endorsed Palestine’s G-77 presidency with 146 members voting in favor and the US, Israel and Australia opposed.
#New Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in New York to assume the Chairmanship of the “Group of 77" on Tuesday ~ meets today midday with UN Secretary General ~ Israel's Ambassador said WH peace plan to be rolled out early this year @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/VxFpGscfe7
— Pamela Falk (@PamelaFalk) January 14, 2019
As head of the group, Palestine — which is a non-member observer state — will be able to act as a member state and exercise its right to reply as a member of the bloc.
As a non-member observer state, Palestine has the right to vote on some General Assembly resolutions and participate in UN organizations.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
