Japan PM pledges not to move Israel embassy to Jerusalem

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday his country would not move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.

Meeting in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Abe told Abbas his country "will not move its embassy to Jerusalem," a readout on Palestinian official news agency Wafa said.

The United States is due to transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14 in a move that sparked anger among Palestinians, who view the eastern part of the city as their capital.

President Donald Trump's decision broke with decades of international consensus that the future of the disputed city should be negotiated between the parties, but Israel is hopeful other countries will follow the US lead.

Wafa said the Japanese leader reasserted his country's support for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the framework of the two-state solution.

It said Abbas thanked Abe for his country's support for the Palestinian people and told him Palestinians remained "ready to cooperate for the success of any international effort to find a political process," provided it was based on international law and the creation of a Palestinian state.

The Palestinians are currently refusing to meet Trump's negotiating team over the embassy row and Abbas has called for other countries to step in to facilitate a new process.

Recently appointed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not meet with any Palestinian officials during his whistlestop tour of the Middle East this week.

Abe will meet Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.

His visit to the region also included trips to the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.