FACTBOX: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
(Reuters) - Below are some key facts about Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who will press for revived peace talks with Israel at a conference on Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland.
* Also known by his nickname Abu Mazen, Abbas, 72, is a veteran of the Palestinian struggle for statehood. He served as deputy to Yasser Arafat in the Palestine Liberation Organisation and took it over after Arafat's death in November 2004.
* Abbas co-authored interim peace accords with Israel in 1993 in which Palestinians obtained a measure of self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
* He was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005 in a landslide victory.
* However, his Fatah movement was defeated by Islamist Hamas in a surprise general election upset in January 2006. Hamas, boycotted by much of the world for its refusal to accept past peace deals, renounce violence and recognize Israel, seized control of Gaza in June after routing forces loyal to Abbas.
* Abbas was born in the town of Safed in what is now the Galilee region of northern Israel. His family was among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were driven out of homes in the war of Israel's creation in 1948.
(Writing by Mohammed Assadi)
