18 May 2011, Male'; The Maldives would work towards the establishment of a sovereign state of Palestine by garnering international support said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Naseem.
Speaking during his call on Palestinian President Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, Minister Naseem welcomed the joint efforts by Hamas and Fathaha in working towards the establishment of a sovereign state of Palestine, and noted that the Maldives would work alongside Palestine and would actively lobby for a UNGA Resolution in the upcoming September session.During the meeting Minister Naseem also delivered a letter from President Mohamed Nasheed to Palestinian President Abbas.
President Abbas thanked the Foreign Minister for President Nasheed's invitation to visit the Maldives, and expressed hope to visit the country in the near future. He also noted the difficulties the Palestinians had faced for the past 40 years, and spoke on the continued efforts to establishing a Palestinian state.
During his visit, Minister Naseem also signed an MoU on "Protocol on Political Consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine". Minister Naseem who is visiting Palestine from the 16th to 18th this month, also met with the Palestinian Prime Minister, Fayyad and the Palestinian counterpart, Dr. Riyad Maliki. He also attended a lunch hosted by the President Abbas, and visited the memorial of PLO Leader, Yasser Arafat.