RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh has called on the US administration to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from its list of terrorist organizations.

The call came during a meeting between Shtayyeh and a delegation from the US Congress Foreign Affairs Committee representing the Democratic Party in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to a statement issued by the Palestinian cabinet.

During the meeting, Shtayyeh urged the Joe Biden administration to expedite the reopening of the US consulate in East Jerusalem.

In 2018, the administration of former President Donald Trump closed the consulate in East Jerusalem after it recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

In 1987, the US Congress passed the Anti-Terrorism Act, which, among other things, declared the PLO a terrorist organization and prohibited the opening of PLO facilities on US soil.

Despite the ban, Congress allowed the president to issue a waiver on his own accord, paving the way for the PLO to open a representative office in Washington in 1994.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara