Palestinian President Mohammed Abbas expressed his deepest gratitude to the people of Sri Lanka yesterday -- for the moral support given to the Palestinians throughout their struggle to protect their rights, which had continued over several decades.

Delivering a short address at the signing of the bilateral 'Framework Agreement for Technical Capacity Building' by the two Foreign Ministers, Rohita Bogollagama and Riad N A Maliki, at the Presidential Secretariat, Mr. Abbas said he was delighted to visit Sri Lanka at a time when Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa was President of the country.

"The significance of my visit is that I am visiting Sri Lanka as the second leader of Palestine to pay an official visit to this country, after our late beloved leader Yasser Arafat," he said.

President Abbas expressed the hope that peace would dawn in Sri Lanka under the leadership of President Rajapaksa, in the near future. He invited President Rajapaksa to pay an official visit to Palestine at a time convenient to the two states.

President Rajapaksa said the solidarity of Sri Lanka with the people of Palestine had history of 25 years. The Palestinians had waged a struggle to safeguard their rights over several decades and Sri Lanka had been backing them throughout this period.

"Sri Lanka will continue to support Palestine in the future too. The technical cooperation agreement signed today will help to train Palestinian youth in health, education, culture and many other vital fields," said President Rajapaksa.

 The two foreign ministers, Bogollagama and Maliki, signed the Framework Agreement for Capacity Building' witnessed by the two Presidents.

A large number of ministers and officials were present at the occasion.