Mahmoud Abbas (Arabic: مَحْمُود عَبَّاس‎, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 26 March 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen (Arabic: أَبُو مَازِن‎, 'Abū Māzin), is a Palestinian statesman. He has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah (فتح Fataḥ) ticket. Mahmoud Abbas was elected to serve until 9 January 2009, due to Palestinian Internal conflict he unilaterally extended his term for another year and continues in office even after that second deadline expired. As a result of this, Fatah's main rival, Hamas announced that it would not recognise the extension or view Abbas as rightful president.[5][6][7] Abbas was chosen as the President of the State of Palestine by the Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council on 23 November 2008,[8] a job he had held unofficially since 8 May 2005.[9] Abbas served as the first Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority from March to October 2003 when he resigned citing lack of support from Israel and the United States as well as "internal incitement" against his government.[10] Before being named prime minister, Abbas led the PLO's Negotiations Affairs Department. Despite Abbas' call for a peaceful solution, attacks by militant groups continued after his election, in a direct challenge to his authority. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine launched a raid in Gaza on 12 January that killed one and wounded three military personnel in Gaza. On 13 January Palestinians from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Hamas, and the Popular Resistance Committees launched a suicide attack on the Karni crossing, killing six Israelis. As a result, Israel shut down the damaged terminal and broke off relations with Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, stating that Abbas must now show a gesture of peace by attempting to stop such attacks. Abbas was formally sworn in as the Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority in a ceremony held on 15 January in the West Bank town of Ramallah. On 9 August 2005 he announced that legislative elections, originally scheduled for 17 July, would take place in January 2006. On 15 January 2006 he declared that despite unrest in Gaza, he would not change the set date of the elections (25 January), unless Israel decided to prevent Palestinians in East Jerusalem from voting.[23] Hamas won a majority of votes in this vote. In May 2009, he welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to the West Bank, who supported Abbas' goal of a Palestinian State.[54] Also in May 2009, Abbas made a visit to Canada, where he met with foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In February 2010, Abbas visited Japan for the third time as Palestinian President. In this visit he met Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. He also visited Hiroshima, the first such visit by a Palestinian leader, and spoke about the suffering of Hiroshima, which he compared to the suffering of the Palestinians.[55] In July 2012, Abbas accused former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of fabricating a conversation between them and denied that such a conversation took place. The specific quote he denied was, "I can't tell four million Palestinians that only five thousand of them can go home,"[56][57] regarding the issue of Palestinian refugees. Abbas further said, "I'm not calling her a liar... I am saying that we never had that conversation."[58] In response, Rice denied that she fabricated it, as her chief of staff Georgia Godfrey wrote, "Dr. Rice stands by her account of the conversation and what she wrote in her book." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Abbas

• published: 19 Oct 2013
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