Abbas to stand down as Palestinian president?

Mahmoud Abbas, the increasingly isolated president of the Palestinian National Authority, announced today that he would not stand for re-election in polls scheduled for January, further unravelling US hopes for reviving the long-stalled peace process.

The announcement, made as Mr Abbas’s political standing hit an all-time low, exposed the deep Palestinian frustration at the US Administration’s failure to halt construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

It was prompted in part by remarks made last weekend by Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, who semed to cave in to Israel’s refusal to halt the growth of Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

Mr Abbas, 74, who succeeded Yassir Arafat, told a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation that he would not run, his aides said. More...

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