Abbas tells Interfax he has no intention to run in presidential elections in Palestine
MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said he did not intend to nominate himself at the presidential elections in Palestine.
"As of today, my decision regarding the participation in the coming presidential elections is negative despite the pressure being put on me," Abbas said in an interview with Interfax ahead of his visit to Russia.
When asked whom he considered a suitable candidate for Palestinian leader, Abbas said that "there are many sons of the Palestinian nation deserving to be nominated for this position."
It emerged on Friday that Abbas will visit Russia on June 25 and will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Abbas headed the Palestinian national administration in 2005 and was re-elected repeatedly. In January 2013 Abbas signed an order on renaming the Palestinian national administration into the state of Palestine and the position of Palestinian national administration head into the president of the state of Palestine.
