By Xinhua
Gaza : Salam Fayyad, the Prime Minister of the caretaker government is thinking to run in the coming Palestinian Presidential elections due to be held in January 2009,a well-informed Palestinian source revealed Monday.
The source, which spoke in conditions of anonymity, told the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper that Fayyad would run in the elections “only if President Mahmoud Abbas decides not to compete on the Palestinian presidency.”
President Abbas was elected in January 2005 as the President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), where he succeeded late President Yasser Arafat who died of a mysterious illness in November 2004.
The source told the daily that the reports on Fayyad’ thinking to run in the coming presidential elections, “coincides with reports on the possibility of reaching an agreement between rival Fatah and Hamas movements.”
On Sunday, President Abbas conditioned the resumption of dialogue with Hamas, and said it should first “regret its coup andits control of Gaza and then go for early presidential and legislative elections.”
Hamas ousted Abbas security forces and took control of the Gaza Strip in mid June last year. Hamas leaders had repeatedly said they are ready for an “unconditioned dialogue” with Fatah and president Abbas.