Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ s Fatah party has relinquished its membership chief executive after announcing he will run on his own election list, in the latest sign of internal unrest ahead of his election. it was planned later this year.
Nasser al-Kidwa, the 67-year-old nephew of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, had announced that he would have made up his own list of independents, businessmen and youth. He is a former Palestinian foreign minister and a representative to the United Nations.
He had long been seen as a capable follower of the 85-year-old Abbas, and held talks with popular Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti about joining his roster. Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison after being convicted by a military court for terrorism charges during the 2000-2005 uprising, eventually denied his support. ri al-Kidwa.