Palestine supports peace process in Thai South

BANGKOK, July 12 (TNA) - Visiting Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has expressed his full support for a peace process in the Thai far South. Thailand’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Jullapong Nonsrichai on Wednesday welcomed His Excellency Maliki at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok to discuss issues of common interests and peace processes in the Middle East and the Thai deep South. Speaking on behalf of Thailand, the vice minister for foreign affairs expressed support for the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland, after their decades-long fleeing due to domestic unrest. The visiting Palestinian Foreign Minister, in its capacity now as the Permanent Vice Chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), meanwhile, agreed to raise the peace process in Thailand's insurgency-plagued southern border region for further discussions at OIC forums. After the State of Palestine has been recognised by Thailand since earlier this year, the Non-Resident Embassy for State of Palestine to the Thai Kingdom is scheduled to be formally established on August 1, 2012 in Malaysia, with the support of the Thai Embassy in Amman, Jordan's capital. Apart from current technical trainings in the field of fishery and infrastructure construction provided for Palestine, His Excellency Maliki expressed Palestine’s readiness to further develop cooperation with Thailand in other areas in the coming years. (TNA)