In letters sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, Surinamese President Desi Bouterse expressed his country's support for Palestinian national rights and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, Ma'an news agency reported.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Affairs Minister Riad al-Malki said on Tuesday that the latest recognition is another achievement of Palestinian diplomacy.
Suriname's decision is in line with international support for United Nations resolutions demanding the end of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
The international community backs Palestinian demands for a state in most of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) - all territories Tel Aviv occupied in the 1967 Six Day War.
Israel has persistently continued constructing settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds despite the United Nations' condemnation of the action.
Over 100 countries have endorsed the Palestinians' 1988 declaration of independent statehood.
Among them, several Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela have recognized an independent Palestinian state.
End item/ 129