Senior Palestinian official says refused US visa

A senior Palestinian official has been refused a visa for the United States, she said Monday, amid worsening relations between the two sides.

Hanan Ashrawi, a longtime aide to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, announced on Twitter she had been turned down without being given a justification.

"I'm over 70 & a grandmother; I've been an activist for Palestine since the late 1960's; I've always been an ardent supporter of nonviolent resistance," she said in a tweet.

"I've met (& even negotiated with) every Sec. of State since (George) Shultz, & every President since George H. W. Bush (present administration excluded)." She later told AFP it was the first time she had ever been refused a visa to the United States, where her daughter and grandchildren live.

"I travel there at least three or four times a year," she said.

Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee and former minister, has been involved in Palestinian politics for decades and