Palestinian leader says he won’t run again
Peace stalemate a factor, he says

By The Associated Press Comments 0
Published: November 6, 2009

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president said Thursday he does not want to run for another term during the January elections, blaming a stalemate in Mideast peace talks on Israel and the United States.

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In a televised speech to the Palestinians, Mahmoud Abbas said he has told his "brothers” in the Fatah movement of his "desire not to run in the upcoming elections.”

But Abbas’ wording left room for the possibility that he could be persuaded to change his mind, especially if he perceives the U.S. as backing his position on demanding an end to Israeli construction in West Bank settlements.

Abbas’ tenuous internal political position would make it difficult for him to agree to peace talks without a freeze on settlement construction.

The Palestinian leader’s decision, reported earlier in the day by his aides, had set off a flurry of calls from regional leaders, with the presidents of Egypt and Israel, the king of Jordan and Israel’s defense minister all urging him change his mind.

About 300,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians say these settlements take up large chunks of their hoped-for state.

Abbas has threatened before not to run for re-election in the Jan. 24 balloting. In his speech, he said, "I have told my brothers in the (Fatah) executive committee and central committee of my desire not to run.”