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Abbas agrees to postpone PNC meetings until end of 2015: official

Xinhua, September 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to postpone meetings of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) in Ramallah until the end of this year, a senior Palestinian official said Monday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that officials in Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee and Fatah Party central committee advised Abbas to postpone holding the PNC.

"The two leading Palestinian committees recommended President Abbas to give more time for the preparations to hold the PNC with other factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad," said the official.

The PNC, or the PLO parliament in exile, was scheduled to convene in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sept. 14 and 15 to elect new chairman and members of the PLO executive committee.

The decision to delay the PNC session was made after Abbas resigned two weeks ago as the chairman of the PLO, together with the resignations of nine other PLO executive committee members.

The senior official also said that the preparation committee to hold the PNC will convene on Tuesday and will be attended by the PNC Speaker, Salim Za'noon.

PLO official Ahmed Majdalani confirmed reports on holding the preparation committee meeting on Tuesday, adding that "the committee will make its final decision on whether to hold the PNC or postpone it."

Earlier on Monday, another PLO official, Jamil Shihada, told Xinhua that the PLO executive committee, which has held a meeting in Ramallah, sent President Abbas a recommendation to postpone holding the PNC on Sept. 14.

"The PLO recommendation was made to make certain that there will be better preparations for holding a PNC session that will be attended by all participating factions," said Shihada. Endit