Palestinian president Abbas calls for Syrian territorial unity

After the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for Syria's territorial unity to be upheld.

"We reaffirm the need to respect the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic," reads a statement from his office in Ramallah in the West Bank, distributed by the official news agency Wafa.

"The state of Palestine and its people stand by the side of the brotherly Syrian people," Abbas' statement added.

Al-Assad's government had been largely hostile to Palestinian factions, especially the Islamists. Hundreds of Palestinians were imprisoned in Syria under Assad's rule.

Abbas said that it is now important that all political forces focus on the interests of the Syrian people in order to restore Syria's crucial regional role. This would also benefit the "interests of the Palestinian people and their just quest for freedom and independence," Abbas said.