Palestinian President Abbas welcomed Obama

US President Barack Obama arrived in Ramallah on Thursday as part of his three-day Middle East tour.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Obama with a formal ceremony.

Obama and Abbas started their tete-a-tete talks after the ceremony.

Later, the two leaders are expected to hold a joint press conference.

Abbas earlier stated that release of 4,611 Palestinians at Israeli prisons would be the top agenda item of his meeting with Obama. Abbas said he would ask Obama to put pressure on Israel about this issue.

Thursday, March 21, 2013