By Isaac Aregbesola
Addis Ababa – The President of State of Palestine, Mr Mamoud Abbas, on Monday appealed to the African Union (AU) to support the country in its liberation struggle at international engagements.
Vice President of Cuba, Mr Salvedor Mesa, also made similar call on the AU, urging it to stand by the country as it pursued its courses at foreign sessions.
Both nations made the call at the opening of the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU in Addis Ababa.
Mesa urged AU to continue to push for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Cuba by the U.S., saying that it had really affected the nation’s economy.
He, however, stated that since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the U.S. more than a year ago, progress had been made in bilateral and diplomatic relations.
“The progress includes restoration of diplomatic relations and the opening of the embassies which was preceded by Cuba being removed from the list of banned states.
“However, the economic blockade of Cuba has been maintained and restriction has continued to be applied on our country.
“The government of U.S. has imposed fines to that aspect of economic, so let’s continue our decision to ask through UN, removal of blockade on Cuba,” he said.
Mesa urged the AU to continue to support Cuba until the blockade was removed, adding that Africa was a decisive force on the international scene.
According to him, the 54 African members in UN are forces to be reckoned with.
He said that Cuba was ready to continue its support for Africa in education and health sectors.
“Cuba has supported Africa educationally with over 27,000 people that have gone through different training in Cuba; we have got at present 900,000 foreign students in Cuba.
“With that, AU can count on our support for Africa educationally and health. We continue to fulfil our cooperation and commitment because we believe that youth development guarantees the future,” Mesa said.
Similarly, Abbas called on AU leaders to support Palestine’s quest for the implementation of two states and end the occupation of Palestine by Israel.
“We want 2017 to be the end of occupation of the state of Israel in Palestine so that Palestine can live within safe border.
“We want to request the international community to ensure the implementation of two states and ensure peace in our region.
“This will make it possible to fight against any form of extremism or terrorism in our region and the world.
“It will help the two parties to maintain peace within the line we have extended peace to Israel,” he said.
The president thanked Africa for its role in international arena and expressed hope that the support would be sustained.
According to Abbas, Israel is establishing a lot of relation with AU, but this should not be done to the detriment of the people of Palestine.
