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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Palestinian vote in Jan. if no unity deal: Abbas |
| 2009-10-16 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday he would hold elections as planned in January unless Hamas agreed to an Egyptian reconciliation deal that would delay the polls until June. "Our Basic Law stipulates that elections must be held before Jan. 24, 2010," Abbas told a news conference after meeting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. "According to the Egyptian document, elections should be held on 28th of June 2010. If there is an agreement (with Hamas) we will abide by it, but if there is no agreement we will abide by the Basic Law," Abbas said. Abbas made his comments as Hamas asked Egypt for more time to consider the Palestinian unity deal and demanded that it include a clause on the right to resist Israeli occupation. "Hamas has officially asked Egypt to give it two to three days to complete its internal consultations," the Hamas-run government spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP, without giving further details. |
| Posted by:Fred |