Washington _ Agencies
A senior US State Department official said the closure of the PLO office in Washington would be held before Oct. 10 October.
The official said, in a statement to the Turkish agency "Anatolia ", preferring not to be named, that the US State Department told the PLO to evacuate its office in Washington.
Earlier in the day, the United States officially announced the closure of the OSCE Office in Washington, against the backdrop of its rejection of the Palestinian Authority´s attempt to open a criminal investigation against Israel before the International Criminal Court.
In a statement published on its website, the US State Department said that the US administration "decided--after a review--the closure of the office of the PLO´s general mission in Washington."
"This decision is in line with the concern of the US administration and Congress over Palestinian attempts to open an investigation against Israel before the International Criminal Court," she said.
The administration of President Donald Trump announced in November November 2017 its decision to close the offices of the PLO mission in Washington, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a speech before the UN General Assembly called for a criminal investigation against Israel.
But the US State Department later announced that it would allow the OPCW mission to continue working within the 90-day deadline, to be extended, before deciding to close it today.
