RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec. 16, 2006
Abbas Calls For Palestinian Elections
Hamas Dismisses The Call As 'Illegal'
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Play CBS Video Video Early Palestinian Elections Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today announced early elections in the hope that it will calm the rising tide of violence in the Middle East. Joie Chen reports the U.S. is happy with the move.
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, during a speech in which he calls for new elections at his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
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Fatah security forces confront Hamas supporters as they try to prevent them from holding a rally in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Dec. 15, 2006. (AP)
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Surrounded by bodyguards, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, left, arrives for Friday prayers at a mosque in the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Dec. 15, 2006. (AP)
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A Fatah security officer pushes a Hamas supporter during clashes in Ramallah, Dec. 15, 2006. (AP)
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Hamas supporters run away to avoid shots fired by Palestinian security forces loyal to Fatah, Dec. 15, 2006. (AP)
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Interactive Mideast Conflict Events, key players and a history of the world's most unstable region.
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Photo Essay Historic Vote Palestinians vote in their first parliamentary election in a decade.
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Interactive Shaping Israel Israelis vote in an election labeled as a referendum on the country's future in the West Bank
Abbas also said he has revived the Palestine Liberation Organization negotiating department, signaling he would pursue peace talks with Israel.
However, his decision to call elections is fraught with risks.
It immediately hardened the lines between the rival camps, at a time when factional fighting threatens to escalate into civil war. In recent days, Fatah-allied security forces and Hamas gunmen clashed in the streets, and Hamas accused an Abbas ally of trying to kill its prime minister.
Fatah and Hamas supporters traded fire and hurled stones at each other in towns across the Gaza Strip after Abbas' announcement. Eighteen people were wounded, including seven who were shot, according to reports from hospital officials and Hamas. The confrontations involved just a small number of the tens of thousands who rallied across Gaza in support for each side.
In his speech, Abbas said Hamas was ignoring reality. At one point, he warned Hamas not to try to “terrorize” him by claiming its rule was God's will.
Hamas leaders said the speech's confrontational tone made it clear Abbas was no longer a partner. “Abu Mazen is not part of the solution anymore. He is part of the problem now,” said Ahmed Yousef, senior adviser to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.
Yousef said Hamas would try to block the election. “We will challenge him everywhere,” he said.
Elections could be stripped of legitimacy if boycotted by Hamas and other political factions. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a smaller PLO faction that had participated in parliament elections in January, said it rejected Abbas' call for early elections.
Several Palestinian faction leaders based in Syria also rejected Abbas' decision.
“Any step outside the context of the laws is rejected by us all and this is not just the position of Hamas,” said Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal. “The position that we have expressed today is the position of the 10 Palestinian factions whose history, performance and weight on the ground is well-known.”
Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah, who met with Mashaal in Damascus, urged Hamas and Fatah to reach an agreement, calling Abbas' decision “lawless.”
“We believe that such a call will regrettably take us to the unknown,” Shallah said in an interview with the Al-Jazeera satellite station.
Abbas, 71, was elected president in 2005. If he does not run again — he has said he would not seek another four-year term — Palestinian moderates would not have a strong candidate.
Hamas, if it decided to participate, could field Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, according to polls the most popular politician after Abbas.
During times of political turmoil, any efforts to resume peace talks with Israel would likely be frozen. In recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he was willing to give up large parts of the West Bank in a peace deal, and that he was ready to talk peace.
Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Olmert “respects Abu Mazen and hopes that he will have the capability to assert his leadership over the Palestinian people, and to bring about a government that will comply with the international community's principles.”
In other news from the Middle East:
©MMVI CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 43 CommentsYou see I did not even comment on what you had to say about David Padilla which by the way is the guys name you're talking about. I grew up in the same streets this guy grew up in in Chicago. Believe it or not we have mutual acquaintances. This guy is not even a real Muslim. What he is is a real idiot who just happen to get caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. Everything about this guys life was messed up. It'no secret that the U.S. knows this guys no terrorist. They're just trying to make an example out of him but it does not justify him being treated the way that he is by our government.
To call for general elections after the punishing boycott by traditional donors is indeed a low blow by Abu. Time will tell if the Palestinians have strong resolve to stand for their rights. And what does this statement means? "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he was willing to give up large parts of the West Bank in a peace deal, and that he was ready to talk peace." What right does Olmert have to make such concession? All of West Bank is not theirs to dictate terms. The rightful thing is for them to withdraw totally from the occupied lands without any conditions. In fact they should have done that long ago.
what about HeMaRonnie? is this cute enough for U my frined?
Hey, 7 minutes to go. You got your TV on?
This is not a golf game. The people has already expressed its desire in January of this year, under the observation of interantional observers such as former president Jimmy Carter. It's just our Walking-Liar did not like what he saw and came under pressure from his zionist allies to put pressure on this hmas goverment and strangle it. The palestinian prime minister tried to come with the money that has been donated to him by his supporters in the arab world to pay the palestinian authority's employees. And you saw what the President's henchmen did to him at the Egypt-Gaza Crossing. This is called a coup.
Let us return to the people, to hear their word, and let them be the judge. Bet you it's a nice lign. What if the Palestinians chose again the same senario? Will Walking-Liar still accept it as is? Bet you not. Time will sure tell.
Muslims killing muslims in Afghanistan.
Muslims killing muslims in Palestine.
Bush in '08.
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/12/12/1035/#more-1035
That was an article that describes TORTURE in Twenty First Century being done to an american fellow like you and me, and all what you found to counter this is to insult me pretending that I'm not American. Real DUMS.
The fact is this guy who wrote about it has published it in the Guardian, a prestigious publication of the UK. Mind, uncultured people like you, must feel no difference to what is said in the article, because you're just some kuklusklanic right-wingers. Still believing in the most hated guy in the world Walking-Liar Bush.
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See all 43 Comments