President Barack Obama will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (mahk-MOOD’ ah-BAHS’) on Wednesday as the push to head off a Mideast diplomatic clash at the United Nations intensified.
The White House announced the late addition to Obama’s schedule on Tuesday night.
Abbas is pressing ahead with a campaign for statehood at the U.N. despite intense U.S. efforts to forge a diplomatic solution that would avoid a vote in the U.N. Security Council. Obama’s administration has pledged to veto such a move and is working to get Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH’-hoo) back into direct peace talks instead.
Obama is also meeting with Netanyahu on Wednesday after delivering his main address to the U.N. General Assembly.
Source: The Associated Press
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