Clinton touts steps to bolster beleaguered Abbas

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that efforts should center on bolstering the position of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Her comments were in a report to President Barack Obama last week on attempts to renew negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Channel 10 News reported last night that Abbas has told the White House that he is considering stepping down because of the lack of progress in the peace process.

A senior political source who was privy to the State Department report noted that in it Clinton had stressed the significant setback to Abbas in Palestinian public opinion because of the initial decision not to press ahead with bringing the Goldstone report on the Gaza Strip to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.

Days before the report was delivered to Obama, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat went to Washington, where he warned of a potential nightmare scenario as a result of the difficult domestic situation faced by Abbas and the overall desperation in the Ramallah headquarters of the Palestinian Authority government over the stalled peace process.

Clinton recommended a variety of measures to bolster Abbas, including a request to Israel that it carry out a series of goodwill actions and show greater flexibility in order to facilitate the resumption of talks. The secretary of state said in the report that strengthening Abbas is critical, as elections in the PA are likely in the near future.

Clinton also reported that she intends to meet on November 2 in Morocco with a group of Arab foreign ministers and will ask them to step up their political and economic support for Abbas vis-a-vis Hamas.