Gulf between Qaddoumi and Abbas widens as Fayyad receives US blessing for Presidential bid

----------------------------------------------------------Rice: That's My Boy!------------------------------------------------------

"Bethlehem – Ma'an – The Jordanian daily, Ad-Dustur, on Thursday quoted "reliable Palestinian sources" as saying that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does not intend to stand in presidential elections after his term ends in a year and a half. The sources added that a prominent Fatah leader, and member of its central committee, Mahir Ghneim, has refused to be nominated as Abbas' successor.

According to the Jordanian newspaper, the relationship between Abbas and the Fatah leader-in-exile, Farouq Qaddoumi, is witnessing an increasingly wide gap. The sources described Qaddoumi as having been the main driver of Fatah's central committee, convincing members to reject Abbas' nomination of new central committee members, such as Azzam Al-Ahmad and Nabil Amr. No explanation has yet been made for the rejection.

The newspaper quoted the same sources as saying that the Palestinian leadership are frustrated. They said that the Prime Minister of the Palestinian caretaker government, Salam Fayyad, has entered the nomination arena "through the US doors".

The United States has allegedly informed Arab countries of their wish to have Fayyad nominated for the Palestinian presidential elections. So, the Jordanian paper reports, Fayyad has become Washington's nominee to become Abbas' successor, in the wake of Mohammad Dahlan falling out of favour with the US, after years of patronage ended in the failure in the Gaza confrontations with Hamas."