PLO set to extend Abbas term as Palestinian leader

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a news conference at the presidential palace in Cairo May 30, 2009

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is expected to extend Mahmoud Abbas's term as president this week and back his call for a halt to Israeli settlement building before more peace talks.

The meeting of the PLO Central Council on Tuesday will remove any doubt over the fate of the presidency when Abbas's term expires on January 25 and back his opposition to U.S. calls for an immediate resumption of peace talks, according to an early draft of resolutions expected to emerge from the meeting.

Members of the Central Council have been saying for weeks they expect to extend the term of Abbas, who has Western backing. According to the draft, he will stay in office until elections can be held, which requires agreement between the hostile Fatah and Hamas movements.

Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, had called elections for January 24. But a ban by Hamas on participation in the Gaza Strip led to the cancellation of the vote.

"President Abu Mazen and all the institutions of the Palestinian National Authority will continue their work and shoulder their responsibilities ... until the holding of elections," read the draft obtained by Reuters.

Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, does not recognize Abbas's legitimacy as head of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. The Islamist group, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, opposes his strategy of seeking to negotiate a permanent peace deal.

Hamas said an extension of Abbas's term would be illegal and cement Palestinian divisions. "It indicates that Fatah is not interested in ending the divisions," Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, told Reuters.

An Egyptian proposal to promote reconciliation between the groups had called for presidential and legislative elections in June. Hamas has refused to sign it, citing reservations.

The PLO Central Council draft resolutions said elections must take place by June 28 -- the date set out in the Egyptian proposal -- and called for more efforts to end the split.

PLO TO CALL FOR FULL SETTLEMENT FREEZE

Hamas is not part of the PLO, which was founded in 1964 and is recognized internationally as the representative body of the Palestinians. The PLO Central Council created the Palestinian Authority in 1993 under interim peace accords with Israel.

Abbas is also leader of the PLO. Frustrated by the stalled state of the peace process, he has said repeatedly that he will not seek a second term as president of the Palestinian Authority. However, he has no obvious successor.

The PLO Central Council will support Abbas's call for a complete halt to Israeli settlement building before any more peace talks and back "his rejection of American-Israeli pressure," according to the draft resolutions.

The EU also has been trying to encourage the Palestinians to resume talks, but the draft PLO Central Council resolutions rejected a partial, temporary "freeze" announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month.

Abbas feels let down by the United States for its failure to halt Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, part of the territories where the Palestinians want to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The draft resolutions would also prolong the life of the Palestinian Legislative Council, a 132-seat parliament whose term expires in January.

Hamas holds a majority of the seats in the council, having defeated Fatah in a 2006 election. The council has not convened since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007. Prior to that, Israel had arrested many members of the Hamas majority.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Editing by Tom Perry)