Aides: Abbas says he won't run in January election

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press Writer

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told political allies he won't run in January elections because he is frustrated over lack of progress with Israel on peacemaking, aides said Thursday.

Abbas has threatened in the past not to run, and it was not immediately clear whether this was a final decision. The presidents of Egypt and Israel, the king of Jordan and Israel's defense minister all called the Palestinian leader on Thursday, urging him to change his mind, aides said.

The two aides said Abbas would announce his decision in a speech later Thursday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Abbas has not officially declared his intentions.

Palestinians are demoralized because the Obama administration has not been able to pressure Israel to halt its construction on lands they claim for a future state. They fear that if President Barack Obama isn't able to wrest that concession, he won't be able to prod Israel to make other, more sweeping compromises that would be needed to nail down a final peace deal.

The Palestinians say the settlements are undermining their dream of independence by gobbling up large chunks of territory they claim as part of a future state. Some 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967.

Late last month, Abbas told Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that he would not run for re-election, but backed off after Obama called him and expressed his commitment to Mideast peacemaking, Abbas aides have said.

But days later, in a visit to Israel, Clinton had warm praise for Israel's willingness to somewhat limit construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, deepening Palestinian anxiety.

Wednesday night, Abbas informed allies in his Fatah Party that he would not run, and on Thursday, he delivered the same message to the decision-making body of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Abbas' decision aside, it is not clear that elections will be held at all. Islamic Hamas militants who seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 have said they would not participate.