US revokes visas of Palestinian officials ahead of UN meeting LBC

The United States has blocked the President of Palestine and 80 other officials from attending the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, has revoked the visas of President Mahmoud Abbas and other delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), ahead of the meeting in September.

Mr Abbas had been planning on travelling to the US to deliver a speech to the assembly. His office has said that the visa decision violates the UN "headquarters agreement".

As host of the UN in New York, the US is not supposed to refuse the visas of delegates heading to the meeting.

However, the State Department says that it is complying with the agreement by allowing members of the Palestinian Authority mission to attend.

Matt Frei is joined by Palestinian National Initiative's Mustafa Barghouti, who condemns the 'violation of international law'.