Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named close confidant Hussein Al Sheikh as his deputy and likely successor yesterday, the Palestine Liberation Organisation said, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership.
Abbas, 89, has headed the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 but he had for years resisted internal reforms including the naming of a successor.
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