Palestine urges Egypt, Jordan to boycott US-led Bahrain conference

Palestinian officials on Wednesday urged Egypt and Jordan to reconsider their attendance at a US-led conference on June 25-26 in Bahrain, saying their participation weakens any Arab opposition to President Donald Trump's peace plan.

The summit will see the unveiling of the economic aspect of the new US peace plan spearheaded by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The Palestinian leadership has already rejected the long-delayed US peace plan, saying President Donald Trump's moves so far show him to be blatantly biased in favour of Israel.

Relations soured between Washington and the Palestinians after the Trump administration recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in late 2017.

"The Palestinian Authority urges Egypt and Jordan not to attend the Bahrain conference," Ibrahim Melhem, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority said on Facebook after US officials announced the two nations, along with Morocco, would attend.

Melhem urged "all brotherly and friendly countries to withdraw", adding that participation "would carry wrong messages about the unity of the Arab position" on rejecting Trump's long-awaited peace plan.

Egypt and Jordan's participation at the Bahrain meeting is considered particularly important because they have historically been key players in Middle East peace efforts and are the only Arab states that have peace treaties with Israel.

Earlier on Wednesday, a senior Palestinian decision-making body condemned the decision by Arab countries to attend the Bahrain conference, calling for the "Arab masses" to act against the gathering.

"The participation of some of the Arab brothers in this workshop is condemned and unjustified," the Fatah Revolutionary Council said in a statement. 

It called on Palestinian "masses" to demonstrate. "We also call on our Arab masses to act against it," it said.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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