Interview: Palestinian leadership seeks multilateral sponsorship for Israeli-Palestinian peace process: Abbas aide

RAMALLAH, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian leadership is seeking multilateral sponsorship for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process without the U.S. role following the recent U.S. move on Jerusalem, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday.

Nabil Shaath, Abbas' foreign relations advisor, made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua.

He said that the U.S. sponsorship of the bilateral Israeli-Palestinian talks "is over and will not return" after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6.

The Palestinian leadership will seek multilateral sponsorship for the peace process, because "the American mediation of the peace process is no longer acceptable" due to its fully biased siding with the Israeli side, Shaath said.

Trump, breaking away from decades of U.S. policy of neutrality on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, has infuriated the Palestinians and other Muslims across the world with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and order to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to the disputed holy city.

Jerusalem, revered by Muslims as the third holiest site in Islam and by Jews as the holiest site, lies at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel took over East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war, and declared the whole city as its eternal capital in 1980. But the Palestinians insist that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future independent Palestinian state.

The international community holds that the status of Jerusalem should be resolved through the Israeli-Palestinian final-satus talks.

Shaath said he is scheduled to visit China and Russia later this week on behalf of the president, to hold discussions on the latest developments with senior officials in both countries.

"We will present the idea of a Chinese and Russian role within a multilateral international framework for the peace process in Palestine and the Middle East on the basis of the international law," said Shaath, expressing appreciation of China's "historical" support to the Palestinian cause.

He pointed out that China is ready to play a role in reviving the peace process, which has been stalled since 2014 mainly due to Israel's continued expansion of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

China supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Enditem