BICOM

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met yesterday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Cairo.

Abbas attended the meeting alongside PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki and senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. According to Abbas’ office, the discussion with Ahmadinejad focused on the PA’s financial crisis and reconciliation attempts between the two major Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. Following the meeting, Abbas thanked Ahmadinejad “for supporting the Palestinian move to achieve the status of observer state at the United Nations” in November of last year.

Addressing the conference itself, Abbas accused Israel of a “fierce and brutal” campaign in Jerusalem involving “the machine of Judaisation and elimination of the city’s Arab, Islamic and Christian character.” He also called on attending countries to help alleviate the PA’s financial woes.

According to AFP, while in Cairo, Ahmadinejad also turned his attentions to Israel and said in statements published by Egypt’s state news agency that “The people of Iran are ready to march on Israel to wipe it out if it launches into an adventure against Tehran.” Meanwhile, Al-Ahram quoted Ahmadinejad saying that Iran is “already an industrial and nuclear country.”

Ahmadinejad’s attendance at the Islamic summit is the first visit of an Iranian leader to Egypt since the two countries broke off diplomatic ties in the wake of Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel. However, the visit does not appear to have increased prospects of the restoration of ties between Egypt and Iran. The two countries are split on key issues, such as the Syrian civil war – emphasised by an attack on Ahmadinejad by a shoe-throwing Syrian protestor during his current Cairo trip.