PLO will keep Abbas as Palestinian president

By Ali Sawafta

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Mahmoud Abbas's term as Palestinian president will be extended by the supreme body of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) when it meets in December, senior PLO officials said Tuesday.

Abbas, the Western-backed leader committed to negotiating peace with Israel, will stay in office, they said.

Though Abbas has said he does not want to run again for the presidency, several members of the PLO Central Council interviewed by Reuters said the body would effectively extend his tenure to avoid a vacuum when it expires on January 25.

Following his November 5 announcement that he did not want to stand again for the presidency in elections he had called for January 24, the PLO urged Abbas to stay on.

However the debate over his candidacy was rendered largely irrelevant last week when the independent election commission advised him to postpone the vote. Cancellation of the election is now seen as a mere formality.

The commission told Abbas it could not organise presidential and legislative elections, mainly because they had been banned in advance by the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, which disputes Abbas's legitimacy.

So his threat not to stand will not arise.

NO DISSOLUTION OF PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY