Mahmoud Abbas said he objects to the permanent resettlement of Palestinians in Lebanon.
“The Palestinians have the right of return and this is an issue we are discussing with the Israelis,” the Palestinian Authority president, meeting in Beirut on Thursday with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, told reporters.
About 400,000 Palestinians live in 12 refugee camps in Lebanon. Most of them arrived in Lebanon in 1948 or are descendant of those refugees. The camps are a hotbed of ferment, with occasional outbursts of violence.
Abbas also called for a “comprehensive” solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, including returning the Golan Heights to Syria and resolving the dispute between Israel and Lebanon over the border-area Shebaa Farms.
