Borne aloft by cheering gunmen, Palestinian presidential hopeful Mahmoud Abbas cut an unusual figure in his gray business suit. Smiling and raising his hand in salute, Abbas gave a demonstration of the careful diplomacy he has adopted to woo the fighters as he bids to succeed Yasser Arafat in Sunday’s election — a victory that looks in little doubt. But bringing those same militants under real control will prove the greatest challenge for Abbas if he is to achieve his aim of ending more than four years of violence and restarting talks with Israel on Palestinian statehood. Militants appear less than convinced by Abbas’s call to end armed struggle and emphasize there could be no truce while Israel continues to fight them. Israel, however, has ruled out negotiations if attacks continue.Full Story
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