Abba

WASHINGTON -- Much of the world's focus is on the implications of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's likely departure from politics and what it means for the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet of great significance will be how the election campaign plays out for the Palestinian Legislative Council. The campaign began over a week ago, and elections are scheduled for Jan. 25, but things haven't been going smoothly. Not only did Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party split and then regroup, but armed attacks by Fatah militias on election offices have been rampant.

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met informally in Jordan yesterday, and aides said the leaders would hold official talks in coming weeks. The two leaders attended a breakfast held by Jordan's King Abdullah II as part of a two-day gathering of Nobel laureates and business and political leaders near the ruins of the ancient town of Petra. Olmert and Abbas shook hands and smiled for the cameras but did not delve into substantive matters, officials said.

MAHMOUD ABBAS is expected in Washington this week for the first visit to the White House by a Palestinian Authority president in years. He can distinguish himself from his predecessor - Yasser Arafat, whom Mr. Bush refused to see - by highlighting his accomplishments on security matters, identifying pragmatic ways the administration can help improve Palestinian lives and pressing the president on the prospects for peace after the Israeli withdrawal from...

Hamas' revolt in the Gaza Strip is the best thing to happen to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas since the Islamic militants' electoral rout of his Fatah party 18 months ago. The bloody purge of Fatah security forces from Gaza last week was an embarrassing defeat, but it has reinvigorated Mr. Abbas' beleaguered presidency, providing him with the chance - the excuse - to dissolve the Hamas-dominated government and replace it with Fatah loyalists...

It only takes a single exposure, and in an instant, your whole day can change. The infection is rapid and feels potentially unending. One minute you're minding your own business and the next you find that you can't stop thinking, humming or singing "Dancing Queen." Friday n ight and the lights are low... No matter what you try, you can't shake it. In fact, once you start thinking about ABBA, you're a goner. Next thing you know, you've moved to this: If you change your mind/I'm the first in line.

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian officials said yesterday that Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, would meet tomorrow with the prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, in the West Bank city of Jericho. An Israeli government spokesman could not immediately confirm the date or location of the proposed meeting but said that one would take place "very soon." A gap was already becoming apparent, though, between Palestinian expectations and Israel's stated intentions regarding what the meeting would cover.

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sharpened the war of words against his Hamas rivals yesterday, saying it was time to "bring down" the militant group's regime in the Gaza Strip. Abbas' comments against Hamas, whose fighters defeated his Fatah faction to take control of Gaza five months ago, reflected his anger over a deadly clash in the coastal enclave earlier this week. "We have to bring down this bunch which took over the Gaza Strip by force and which is trading on the suffering and misery of our people," Abbas said in broadcast remarks marking the 19th anniversary of the Palestinian declaration of independence.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Mohammad Abu Abbas, one of the world's most notorious guerrilla leaders, crossed his legs, sucked on a slow-burning cigar and talked about how his patience was running thin."

UNITED NATIONS -- The Bush administration expressed support yesterday for the efforts by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to establish a national unity government with Hamas, but said the United States would continue to withhold aid from the Palestinian Authority. Washington's European allies have been pushing President Bush to engage more fully in peace efforts in the Middle East. An announcement yesterday by the four powers of the so-called quartet that have been working to promote peace negotiations - the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations - that they support Abbas' efforts came as part of talks on the periphery of the General Assembly.

JERUSALEM --The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said yesterday that he will resign if he is unable to carry out his program after legislative elections Jan. 25. Abbas defended the inclusion in the election of the Islamic group Hamas, which refuses to give up its armed wing. Hamas is expected to do well, and even if it does not win a majority, it could make it much more difficult for Abbas and Israel to discuss peace or even to coordinate policies. Hamas leaders refuse to accept the 1993 Oslo accords that set up the Palestinian Authority and are committed to the eventual eradication of Israel and a single state of Palestine.