Abbas considers early elections

Beleaguered Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is considering calling presidential and legislative elections to strengthen his position, a top aide said today.

In his bitter wrangling with Hamas over legitimacy, Abbas has won the backing of the PLO.

However, elections could be held only in the West Bank as long as Gaza remains under Hamas rule, further deepening the split between the two territories.

One Hamas spokesman hinted the Islamic militants might try to disrupt voting in the West Bank.

A poll today indicated that 75% of Palestinians support new elections, in the wake of Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza. Hamas came to power in January 2006 parliament elections, while Abbas, from Fatah, was elected separately a year earlier.

Underscoring Hamas' increasing isolation, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak rushed to Abbas' side Thursday, announcing he will host a regional peace summit with Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

The meeting will take place Monday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.

Abbas will call for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, arguing that only progress toward Palestinian statehood can serve as a true buffer against Hamas, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

"The most important thing to realize is that time is of the essence," Erekat said. "We need to deliver the end of occupation, a Palestinian state. If we don't have hope, Hamas will export despair to the people."

However, the goodwill toward Abbas will not change the main fallout from Hamas' overthrow of Abbas' Fatah movement in Gaza: it has created a two-headed Palestine, with Hamas in charge of Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank, and that's sure to complicate efforts to forge a peace deal that would establish a Palestinian state.

In Ramallah, Abbas today won backing for his most recent steps against Hamas - throwing it out of the government, outlawing its militias and forming an emergency Cabinet of moderates.

A top PLO body, the PLO Central Council, affirmed his decisions, in effect sidelining the Hamas-controlled parliament which normally would be asked to approve a new government. Parliament is paralysed, following Israel's roundup of most Hamas legislators.

Hamas is not a member of the PLO, which is dominated by Fatah. Although largely inactive in recent years, the PLO considers itself the sole representative of the Palestinian people, and can bestow legitimacy or take it away.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri dismissed the PLO's decisions as "illegal and illegitimate".

The PLO body also asked Abbas to prepare for new presidential and legislative elections, and to change the electoral system.