Abbas: A pragmatist who opposes violence

Mahmoud Abbas, the man who exit polls said overwhelmingly won today’s Palestinian presidential election, is a demonstrated pragmatist who opposes violence but who can still be expected to drive hard bargains in any future peace talks with Israel.

Long the number-two man in the Palestinian hierarchy after the late Yasser Arafat, 69-year-old Abbas is well liked both at home and abroad despite a grey, businesslike image that always stood in sharp contrast to Arafat’s theatrics.