Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that he would
not seek re-election after his four-year term ends in 2009.
Abbas made the remarks after attending a ceremony to mark the
first anniversary of his election to succeed the late Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah." I have
worked and will work to reinforce democracy and implement my
program that I presented before I was elected," Abbas asserted.
He welcomed the Israeli cabinet's decision to allow Palestinians
living in east Jerusalem to vote in the Palestinian legislative
elections on Jan. 25.
Abbas threatened to postponed the elections if Israel prevented
east Jerusalem residents from voting out of its opposition to Hamas
participation in the first parliamentary elections in ten
years.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2006)
