Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas hopes US President Barack Obama’s forthcoming visit will mark the beginning of a new US policy in the region

Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas hopes US President Barack Obama's forthcoming visit will mark the beginning of a new US policy in the region, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
  
"President Mahmud Abbas welcomes the visit of US President Barack Obama to Palestine," Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency told AFP. "We hope that President Obama's visit to the region is the beginning of a new US policy that will lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian lands occupied since 1967, in accordance with the international resolutions," Abu Rudeina said from Cairo.
  
The White House announced on Tuesday that Obama would make his first visit as president to the Zionist entity, the Palestinian territories and Jordan in the spring, after a visit planned by his Secretary of State John Kerry.