WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week. The meeting will occur just days before Obama hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said the subject of Tuesday’s meeting with Abbas will be recently relaunched peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Netanyahu will be at the White House on Sept. 30. In recent weeks, Secretary of State John Kerry has also met with both leaders.
Rhodes said Obama on Tuesday will meet with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, with whom he will discuss the influx of refugees to Lebanon from the Syrian civil war. He said Obama will meet Monday with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.