Nasser Abu Bakr
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/ 10 June 2006

Abbas announces referendum

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced a referendum fiercely opposed by the Hamas government on Saturday as the Islamists ended an 18-month truce with a barrage of rockets at Israel. The first-ever Palestinian referendum will take place on July 26, according to the decree signed by Abbas and read out to reporters.

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/ 6 June 2006

Abbas calls referendum on Palestinian statehood

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas was headed for a showdown with the Hamas government after winning the green light on Tuesday to hold a referendum on implicitly recognising Israel. The decision by the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation to endorse his referendum plan came despite opposition from Hamas.

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/ 6 June 2006

Abbas set to call referendum on statehood

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was expected to call a snap referendum on Tuesday on a statehood plan that implicitly recognises Israel, despite the protests of the Hamas-led government. The move comes after last-minute talks failed to clinch an agreement between his Fatah party and the hard-line Hamas on how to solve a deepening political and financial crisis.

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/ 25 May 2006

Abbas sets deadline to end deadly rivalry

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas gave Fatah and Hamas a deadline on Thursday to end their deadly rivalry or else he would call a referendum, which could lead to a new national-unity government. Abbas’s shock announcement came on the first day of cross-party talks aimed at drawing a line under divisions between his Fatah movement and the Islamists of Hamas.

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/ 26 January 2006

Hamas set for win as Qureia quits

The radical Islamist movement Hamas looked set on Thursday for a stunning victory over Fatah in the Palestinian election, plunging the stalled Middle East peace process into further turmoil. Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia announced he would submit his resignation to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

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/ 26 January 2006

Exit polls put Hamas in Parliament

The result in a knife-edge Palestinian election is expected to be announced on Thursday amid forecasts that the Islamists of Hamas have deprived the ruling Fatah faction of its majority. Exit polls released late on Wednesday showed Hamas would make a dramatic entry into Parliament, if falling just short of usurping Fatah.