ISLAMABAD, Dec 20: The proposed visit of a Pakistani delegation to Palestine, which was earlier deferred due to the Oct 8 disaster, is likely to take place next month. According to informed sources, Pakistan last week conveyed to the Palestinian Authority that it was ready to send a delegation in January. Initially, the visit was planned for October or November.

Islamabad through diplomatic channels has asked the Palestinian Authority to indicate dates for the visit, preferably in the first half of January. A response is expected sometime this week, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministry is finalizing the size and composition of the delegation. It is believed that the delegation will comprise nine members. It will visit Gaza and West Bank, and possibly Ramallah which houses headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.

The delegation will comprise parliamentarians, including members of opposition parties like the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal. Eminent personalities and retired diplomats are also expected to be part of the delegation.

To keep it low-key and ‘unofficial’ the advice from some quarters is not to include in the delegation any government official or representative of the foreign ministry. A parliamentarian representing the ruling Pakistan Muslim League will probably lead the delegation, the sources maintained.

The visit will be facilitated by the Palestinian and Israeli authorities. Apparently, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri was assured by his Israeli counterpart during their meeting on Sept 1 that Israel would facilitate the visit. The meeting marked the first formal diplomatic contact between Pakistan and Israel.

Pakistan will be sending a delegation to Gaza at the invitation of Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas. During his visit to Pakistan in May he had requested President Gen Pervez Musharraf to send a delegation to the Palestinian territories, saying it would help promote the Palestinian cause.

According to a former diplomat, the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto had almost finalized a trip to Palestine through the good offices of Turkey. However, due to Israeli government’s intransigence on the paperwork and bureaucratic details it did not take place.