Abbas tells Prince of independence hopes

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has told the Duke of Cambridge he hopes his homeland will be a fully independent state the next time he returns to the Middle East.

Prince William made history with his visit to the offices of the Palestinian Authority president, the first member of the monarchy to make an official trip to the Occupied Palestinian Territories on behalf of the UK government.

The two men sat down for talks a day after Prince William was tasked by Israel’s president Reuven Rivlin with taking a “message of peace” in a bid to rekindle relationships with the Arab leader.

In his comments to the Duke, the Palestinian leader reaffirmed his “full commit- 0 The Duke of Cambridge made history with the visit ment to achieving a full and lasting peace based on a twostate solution where the state of Palestine lives side by side with the state of Israel”.

Mr Abbas went on to say to Prince William: “I hope this will not be the last visit … that your next visit will be in the state of Palestine when we have our full independence.”