Abbas vows no delay in Palestinian elections

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, left, prepares to shake hands with Congress Party president and chairman of the ruling United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi as Foreign Minister Natwar Singh looks on, in New Delhi on Friday. Abbas is in India for a two-day visit to meet Indian leaders and hold bilateral talks. PHOTO: AFP

"The elections will be on the 17th of July. We have no intention of postponing them," Abbas told reporters in the Indian capital, New Delhi, where he arrived late Thursday.

Abbas, who is on his first Asian tour since succeeding the late Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority in January, was speaking on the last day of his two-day visit to New Delhi where Indian officials reiterated support for creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"I hope all parties will stick to the truce, I hope we can contain and control" the violence, he said.

Abbas is facing a tough challenge to control militants and press ahead with democratic reform, regarded by Middle East mediators as vital to reviving peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians.

The elections in Gaza are regar-ded as a test of strength between the Islamic guerrilla group Hamas and Abbas's ruling Fatah movement.

Hamas has pledged to respect an informal truce in place since late January but has said it is determined to "avenge Israeli crimes".

A Palestinian militant was killed earlier Friday by Israeli forces in an abortive assault on a Jewish settlement Friday as violence flared in Gaza despite Israeli threats of tougher reprisals.

With the informal truce in jeopardy, Israel has pledged tougher military action against Palestinians who continue to target Jewish settlements in Gaza, less than 100 days before all settlers are to be evacuated from the territory.

Abbas added he was confident the Israelis would stick to their word and pull out from Gaza.

"I think that (the Israeli pullout) will take place in the end," he said.

Earlier, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had a meeting with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in New Delhi yesterday.

External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh was also present during the 35-minute meeting Sonia Gandhi, who is also the UPA Chairperson, had with the visiting dignitary.

Abbas arrived in New Delhi on a two-day visit on Thursday and this is his first top-level political contact with Indian leadership after he was elected to the key post earlier held by Yasser Arafat.

Abbas had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmonan Singh on Thursday night. India is hoping for a "comprehensive peace" in the Middle East. New Delhi has always extended its support to the Palestinian cause and their "inalienable" right to Palestinian state.

Abbas is on his first Asian tour since succeeding the late Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority in January.

He arrived in the Indian capital from Pakistan where he said Pakistani President Pervez Mushar-raf could play an important role in the quest for a Middle East peace.

His tour has also taken him to Japan, where he won a pledge of 100 million dollars in aid to follow Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to China, where he warned that despite progress the Middle East was still on the brink.

In India, he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday evening and was greeted at the airport by junior foreign minister E.A.S Ahamed. .