Romney meets Palestinian Authority chief

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney met with Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday, but refused to travel to the West Bank to do so.

Romney demanded the meeting be held in Jerusalem and not in Ramallah where the PA is based and surprisingly preferred to meet with Fayyad rather than PA president Mahmoud Abbas.

After completing talks with Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Shimon Perez, Romney met with Fayyad.

Following the long weekend he spent meeting with numerous Israeli leaders, his meeting with Fayyad was remarkably brief.

Details of the meeting between Fayyad and Romney have not been released yet, PA spokesperson Ghassan Al-Khatib said, although they were expected to talk about the political and economic situation of the Palestinian Authority.

In a foreign policy speech in Jerusalem, Romney voiced strong support for the alliance between the United States and Israel and confirmed that the US will back Israel if it ever decides to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

According to The Times of Israel, during his tour in Jerusalem, he called the city the “capital of Israel.”

This statement sparked anger among the Palestinian community, with senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat saying the statement was "absolutely unacceptable."

Both Israel and the Palestinians claim the city as their capital.

Romney also held a $50,000 a-plate fundraiser for Israeli guests at the luxurious King David Hotel, with the money going towards the Romney presidential campaign.

(Al-Akhbar, Ma'an)