Abbas offers to quit over stalled peace process

By Mohammed Assadi and Tom Perry

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he did not wish to run for re-election in January, voicing disappointment at Washington for "favoring" Israel in arguments over re-launching peace talks.

The 74-year-old PLO leader, in a televised speech, said his decision was not the negotiating tactic some had expected of him. But his phrasing did appear to leave some room for a change of heart. Officials to whom he announced his move earlier in the day said they insisted he must stand as they had no one else.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she looked forward to working with Abbas in "any new capacity," adding she had discussed his political future in a meeting with him last weekend. She did not give any details.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, asked whether the United States wanted Abbas to change his mind, said: "It's not up to us to say whether or not he should change his mind."

In a mark of the frustration aides say he has felt since Clinton agreed with Israel last week that settlement expansion should not hold up a return to talks, Abbas praised President Barack Obama's administration for promoting peace. But he added: "We were surprised by their favoring the Israeli position."

A man who has based his political career on peace talks, Abbas said he still believed it was possible to reach a solution in which a Palestinian state would arise alongside Israel. But the two-state vision currently faced "many dangers," he said.

Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdainah, explaining Abbas's announcement, said: "The peace process is heading toward a dead end and the American administration failed to make Israel abide by international demands."

Abbas called the January 24 presidential and parliamentary elections last month in a move rejected by his Islamist rivals Hamas, which contests his legitimacy and opposes U.S.-led moves toward permanent Palestinian coexistence with the Jewish state.