Abbas quits PLO leadership ahead of internal election: Official

RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas resigned Saturday as head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's Executive Committee in a bid to force new elections for the top body, an official said.

Wassel Abu Yussef said that more than half of the 18-member committee had also stepped down.

"The resignation of the president of the executive committee Mahmud Abbas and more than half of its members has created a legal vacuum, and therefore the Palestine National Council has been asked to meet in one month to elect a new executive committee," Yussef told AFP.

The executive committee is the PLO's highest decision-making body and acts on behalf of Palestinians in the occupied territories and the diaspora, namely in the peace process with Israel.

In 1993, Abbas, then executive committee secretary general, signed the Oslo autonomy accords on behalf of the Palestinians.

Yussef said that before the resignations were announced, the executive committee elected chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat as its secretary general.

That move came after Abbas suspended another key member, Yasser Abed Rabbo, as secretary general.

It was not immediately clear why Abed Rabbo, a veteran PLO figure, had been sidelined.

Pres #Abbas and other #PLO Exec cmtte members resignation is procedural 2 allow convening of a special #Palestine National Council session

— Alwazir (@wazir_jihad) August 22, 2015

Resignations of #PLO Exec Cmtte and Pres. are only considered official if presented during the session of the #Palestine National Council

— Alwazir (@wazir_jihad) August 22, 2015

Resignation(Vacancy) of 1/3rd of #PLO Exec Cmttee allows convening of a special session of the #Palestine National Council within 30 days.

— Alwazir (@wazir_jihad) August 22, 2015