Ramallah: Dr Saeb Erekat, the Head of the Palestinian Negotiating Team, sent an official letter on Monday to the European Union calling on the union to recognise the state of Palestine on the basis of 1967 borders with Occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.

Dr Erekat, who is a Member of Fatah Central Committee, addressed the written letter to Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU Foreign Affairs Chief, calling on the EU to recognise the state of an independent Palestinian state.

Dr Erekat said in his letter that the EU should take advantage of the assembly of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on December 13 to recognise the state of Palestine. He said that the EU was keen to keep the peace process moving forward and to implement the formula of "two states for two peoples”.

He added that the Israeli insistence, however, on the colony activities made it compulsory to protect the peace process and to force the Israeli government to halt all its colony activities, including in the occupied east Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Dr Erekat met on Monday with Daniel Robenstien, the US Consul General to the occupied Palestinian Territories, where Dr Erekat complained about deporting of Palestinian residents of occupied east Jerusalem from their lands.

He said that Israel should avoid deporting Palestinian residents of occupied east Jerusalem immediately and the Israeli government should reverse its decision to deport the Palestinian Member of the Legislative Council, Mohammad Abu Tair, from occupied Jerusalem to the West Bank.

Robenstien said that this message has been passed on to the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, demanding that the deportation order of Mohammad Abu Tair from occupied Jerusalem to the West Bank to be cancelled, and the Israeli government should avoid any kind of deportation of the Palestinian residents of occupied east Jerusalem from their places.

Dr Erekat said that it is time for all the countries that are keen to implement the "two states for two peoples"formula but have not recognised the state of Palestine on the 1967 border with occupied east Jerusalem as its capital to do this right away.