President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority will hold presidential and legislative elections before September, a senior Palestinian official said on Saturday.
"The Palestinian leadership decided to hold presidential and legislative elections before September," senior Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo told reporters. "It urges all the sides to put their differences aside," he said, referring to a bitter rivalry between Abbas's West Bank-based government and Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip.
Hamas rejected the call for new Palestinian elections made by Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday.
"Hamas will not take part in this election. We will not give it legitimacy. And we will not recognize the results," said spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
Previous presidential and parliamentary elections were postponed because the rival groups were unable to reach a reconciliation deal.
Reuters
Last Mod: 12 Şubat 2011, 17:09
