Palestinians label US-led Mideast meeting an ‘American conspiracy’

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian government rejected Thursday a US-led conference on Middle East peace and security due to take place next week in Warsaw, branding it an "American conspiracy."

The joint US-Polish conference, which was first announced last month by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, will be held on February 13 and 14 and host ministers from across the globe.

The Palestinians were not invited to the meeting amid a breakdown of relations with the United States, though the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be discussed. Among those expected to attend are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as US President Donald Trump senior advisors Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, as well as Pompeo.

In a statement Thursday the Palestinian foreign ministry labelled the meeting "an American conspiracy intended to get the participants to adopt the US views on issues of the region, particularly the Palestine question". It said the Palestinian government would ignore all conclusions made by the conference.

The Palestinians have refused to talk to the Trump administration since the US leader recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017. They see the eastern part of the disputed city as the capital of their future state and have said Washington's pro-Israel bias meant the US could no longer be the main mediator in stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

The Trump administration has delayed multiple times the launch of a proposed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, though officials still say they still intend to present one. The Palestinian foreign ministry also criticised Trump for hailed the US embassy move in his State of the Union address Tuesday.

"The malicious intentions of this administration were reiterated by US President Donald Trump in his State of the Union speech to Congress in which he stressed continuing with the policy of absolute bias toward Israel," said the statement carried on official Palestinian news agency Wafa.