Palestinian Mission in DC Closed

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- The Palestinian envoy to Washington says his staffers have been given a month to pack up after the Trump administration ordered the Palestine Liberation Organization mission closed.

Husam Zomlot told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the closure would not deter Palestinians from seeking a state with east Jerusalem as the capital.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said Monday that the mission was being shut because the PLO, in his words, had not taken steps toward negotiations with Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas halted ties with the Trump administration in December after the U.S. recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Zomlot was called home by Abbas in the spring as part of the crisis.

Zomlot says "we lost the U.S. administration but we gained our national rights."

(KA)