Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas headed for Britain Sunday for an official visit to discuss the future of peace talks with Israel, a Palestinian official said.
Abbas will meet British Prime Minister David Cameron and senior officials. Then he will embark on a visit to Denmark, said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee.
In Britain, Abbas will see if Europe can engage itself more in the efforts to revive the Middle East peace negotiations, Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine Radio.
The United States has been the sponsor of the negotiations, but the Palestinian leadership lost confidence in Washington after it vetoed an Arab draft resolution against the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories last month.
The settlement activities in the West Bank, which were resumed in September 2010, caused the U.S.-brokered peace talks to collapse a few weeks after they were relaunched.
Abbas' visit to Europe comes ahead of a meeting of the Quartet of peace mediators, which is scheduled in the middle of March in Paris. The Quartet comprises the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations.