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Abbas says elections in Jan. if reconciliation failed

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-16 00:56

RAMALLAH - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday announced he would call for general elections in January if Egypt failed to reconcile Palestinian rivals.

The Egyptian efforts are meant to restore political unity to Gaza and the West Bank, respectively ruled by Islamic Hamas movement and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian National Authority ( PNA).

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Egypt "has sent us a document to achieve the reconciliation and end the coup in the Gaza Strip; we have agreed on this document," Abbas told a press conference with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The Egyptian proposal calls for holding Palestinian presidential and legislative elections in the middle of 2010 and to take series of steps securing the restoration of the situation in Gaza to the era before Hamas has taken over the coastal enclave by force in 2007.

"The Palestinian system and constitution say that the elections must be held before January 24, 2010; if an agreement was reached under the Egyptian project, we would be committed to the Egyptian proposal to hold them in June 2010, but if not, the elections will be held on their due time," Abbas said.

On Thursday, Hamas requested a three-day term to respond to Egypt's proposal and said that Egypt has accepted its demand.