Israeli-Palestinian peace

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Thursday he will not seek re-election in January because of his frustration with the US position on Israeli settlements, officials said. However, it was not immediately clear if Abbas, who was due to speak later on Thursday, would follow through with his intentions as a top Palestinian body urged him to reconsider. "President Abbas told the PLO executive committee that he will not run in the next presidential election, and the executive committee unanimously told him that they reject the decision," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which Abbas heads. Abed ... Read Full Story

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Thursday he will not seek re-election in January amid frustration with the US position on Israeli settlements, a senior PLO official said. "President Abbas told the PLO executive committee that he will not run in the next presidential election, and the executive committee unanimously told him that they reject the decision," said Yasser Abed Rabbo. The Palestine Liberation Organisation's top body "announced they will still support him as the nominee in the elections," which the Palestinian leader has called for January 24 alongside a parliamentary poll. "President Abbas has said more than once that he does not want ... Read Full Story

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to accept Thursday Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's decision to step down in January at face value, saying she hoped to work with him in "any new capacity." The chief US diplomat, who recalled talking to Abbas on Saturday during a Middle East tour that triggered Palestinian anger, said the United States had "tremendous respect" for his leadership of the Palestinians. Abbas "described in great detail the challenges" he faced and we "talked about his own political future," Clinton told reporters when asked for comment about his announcement he will not seek re-election next year. "He reiterated his personal ... Read Full Story

Hamas is to hand its response on Sunday to Egyptians mediating a Palestinian unity deal, a spokesman for the Islamist movement said on Saturday without disclosing its position. A Hamas delegation is to travel to Cairo on deliver the response, Fawzi Barhoum told AFP, while refusing to say whether the movement would accept the proposal. The response "will be taken within a framework aimed at guaranteeing the success of the Egyptian efforts" to heal the deep rift between Hamas and the secular Fatah movement, Barhoum said. On Friday, Cairo announced that its mediators had delayed to an unspecified date their deadline for Hamas to ... Read Full Story

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Sunday that a unity deal between rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas might be delayed until next month after Hamas asked for a postponement. A senior Hamas delegation met Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in Cairo on Saturday to ask for the date to be pushed back. Asked if the signing of the already long-delayed deal would be postponed, Abul Gheit told reporters it "might be ... for a few weeks," without confirming Hamas reports that Cairo had agreed to a delay. The delay was requested because of the controversial decision by the Palestinian delegation at ... Read Full Story