Abbas made PLO chairman

MAHMOUD ABBAS, a former prime minister and a veteran peace negotiator, was elected chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation yesterday within hours of Yasser Arafat’s death, putting him on a track to become the next overall leader of the Palestinians.

However, with Mr Arafat having indicated no preferred successor, Palestinians quickly installed a collective leadership, handing top positions to moderates and hard-liners alike in a bid to avoid a power vacuum.

The 69-year-old Mr Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen and who long worked in Mr Arafat’s shadow as the PLO’s number two official, takes the most powerful of the three titles Mr Arafat held - president of the Palestinian Authority, leader of the Fatah movement and head of the PLO.