Moscow backs PLO on Abbas

 Moscow supports the decision of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s central council to extend the presidential term of Mahmoud Abbas till the next elections in 2010, Foreign Ministry's spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Thursday.

Nesterenko said that this decision creates the necessary political and legal conditions for prolonging the efficient work of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on building the Palestinian state.

On Wednesday, the PLO's central council decided to extend the presidential term of Mahmoud Abbas, as well as the authority of the Palestinian parliament elected in 2006, until new elections are held.

Earlier Palestinian Foreign Minister Ryad al-Maliki said that the two Palestinian political movements Fatah and Hamas, still failed to resolve their disagreements on establishing a National Unity government and to set the date of the next general elections.