RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday reiterated his decision not to run in any upcoming elections as Palestinian president.
"I will not stand in elections and I have other steps to reveal later," Abbas told a meeting of Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council in Ramallah.
The elections were due in January 2010 but it has been postponed by PLO until further notice after Hamas said it will not allow voting in the Gaza Strip unless differences with Abbas are settled.
Abbas said he rejected "direct and indirect" offers from Hamas to recognize a new term for him in office in exchange for extending the term of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) that expires next month.
The Palestinian president said he is ready to resume peace talks with Israel if it completely stops settlement in Palestinian territories and recognizes the borders of the future Palestinian state.
"If settlement stopped completely for a specific period and borders of a statehood within the 1967 borders, we will go to negotiations," Abbas said.
He also called on the international community "to recognize the reference of the negotiations" that involve a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to freeze settlement activities in the West Bank "is not considered a halt to settlement activities."
The PLO's Central Council convened in Ramallah Tuesday in order to make its final decision on a new political alignment in the Palestinian Authority. Israel allowed 17 members of the council to travel from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank to attend the two-day discussions.
The PLO legislature was expected to appeal to Abbas to continue his term until elections are scheduled. Abbas' term ends next month, and he has already announced that he does not plan to run for office again. Abbas has been under pressure from Fatah and the PLO to abandon his threat not to run in a new presidential election.
Earlier this week, the Fatah Revolutionary Council, one of the key decision-making bodies, recommended during an emergency meeting in Ramallah that all PLO and Fatah institutions approve the proposal to extend Abbas' term in office.
The Central Council also plans to discuss a proposal regarding the PLC, whose 132 members were elected for four years in January 2006. The proposal suggests that the council, dominated by Fatah, replace the Hamas-majority PLC.
The move is aimed at undermining the results of the 2006 elections, which Hamas won, without dismantling the Palestinian Authority. The plan, to be implemented next month, will see Abbas as head of the PLO.
Under the plan the Hamas-led Parliament will complete its term, but the Central Council will fill in when needed.
Hamas has already announced that it would not be obligated to comply with any of the central committee's decisions. The movement's Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, declared Monday that the current Parliament is the legitimate body and that the PLO Central Council's decisions were insignificant.
