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Palestinian leader endorses Olmert for Israeli PM

Posted on: Wednesday, 8 March 2006, 09:35 CST

ROME (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in remarks published on Wednesday that he hoped Israel's interim prime minister, Ehud Olmert, would win upcoming elections in the Jewish state.

"We respect the free will of the Israelis. I hope that Olmert wins. I know him well," Abbas told Italy's Corriere Della Sera newspaper in an interview.

Abbas did not elaborate on his reason for backing Olmert.

Olmert assumed power after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was incapacitated by a January 4 stroke, and his Kadima Party is widely expected to sweep the March 28 poll.

Despite past praise for Abbas's peacemaking efforts, Olmert largely cut off diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority after the Islamic militant group Hamas won its January 25 legislative election.

By contrast, Olmert's top political rival, Labour Party chief Amir Peretz, met Abbas last week in a bid to draw votes and cast himself as a viable contender for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Trailing third in opinion polls ahead of the Israeli elections is the right-wing Likud Party. Its leader, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, advocates a tough line on Abbas until he disarms Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

Abbas has ruled out a crackdown, citing fears of civil war in the occupied West Bank and also the Gaza Strip, from which Israel withdrew last year. But he wants Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, to soften its stance.

Asked if Hamas must recognize Israel if it wants to govern the Palestinians, Abbas told Corriere: "I say it and I confirm it."

Source: REUTERS

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