Arab League chief urges Guatemala to withdraw relocation of embassy to Jerusalem

CAIRO, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit urged Thursday Guatemala to retrieve its decision to relocate his country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem.

Gheit sent an urgent letter to Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, in which he regretted Guatemala's intention to move its embassy to Jerusalem, spokesman for the AL chief Mahmoud Afifi said in a statement.

In his letter, the Secretary-General said "it is really sad that Guatemala is the only country joining the United States in this move," adding that the pan-Arab organization remains keen to maintain cordial ties with Guatemala to avoid any measures that may influence these ties.

Guatemala's decision came after the United States announced last month it would relocate in May its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which U.S. President Donald Trump recognized as the capital of Israel last December amid regional and international uproar.

The Palestinians consider East Jerusalem, which was seized by the Israel in the 1967 war, as the capital of their future independent state, while the Israelis insist that the entire city is their eternal capital. Enditem