Ramallah [Palestine], April 27 : President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed his close aide, Hussein al-Sheikh, as Vice President of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Al Jazeera reported.
On Saturday, PLO Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yousef said Hussein al-Sheikh was named "deputy (vice president) of the PLO leadership." Sheikh (64) is a veteran leader of Abbas's Fatah movement, which dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA), and is seen as close to the Palestinian President.
Earlier this week, Abbas created the vice president's position during the 32nd session of the Palestinian Central Council in Ramallah. The PLO Executive Committee is scheduled to hold another meeting next Saturday to appoint a new secretary-general.
During the session, Abbas expressed his commitment to initiating a "comprehensive national dialogue," intending to engage "all Palestinian factions to achieve reconciliation and reinforce national unity," Al Jazeera reported, citing Palestinian news agency WAFA.
He also told the committee about the political efforts that will be made aimed at "halting the ongoing Israeli aggression and war of genocide in the Gaza Strip."
These efforts include ensuring the rapid entry of humanitarian and medical aid, full Palestinian governance over Gaza and pushing for Israeli withdrawal from the enclave as "a step towards launching a political process to end the occupation and realise an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital", Al Jazeera cited the WAFA report.
The decision to appoint a vice president comes after years of international pressure to reform the PLO and comes as Arab and Western powers envision an enhanced role for the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Gaza Strip after the end of the war.
The PLO, founded in 1964, has been tasked to negotiate and sign international treaties on behalf of the people of Palestine, while the PA is responsible for governance in limited parts of the occupied Palestinian territory.
The PLA is an umbrella organisation which includes several Palestinian factions except Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
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