Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas, frequently called Abu Mazen, is well known among Palestinians having devoted his life to their struggle.

He is co-founder of Fatah and a PLO veteran, holding the post of secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s executive committee.

The trained lawyer has also been a member of the Palestinian National Council since 1968 and is a former chief lieutenant to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Abbas' name was put forward as the Palestinian prime minister after Arafat agreed to create the post under pressure from the so-called international “quartet” in February 2003.

Abbas accepted the job after he and Arafat agreed on the names to be put forward for the new Cabinet on April 23 following Egyptian-brokered talks.

A major stumbling block was believed to have been Abbas' insistence on having Mohammed Dahlan, the former Gaza security chief, as minister of state for security against Arafat’s wishes, Palestinian sources said.

Abu Mazen said he would not accept the post of prime minister without clear powers. He also retained the title of interior minister. Arafat retained the final say over negotiations with Israel.

A veteran of peace negotiations, Abbas was one of the key players in the secret talks that led to the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel and is the former PLO ambassador to Moscow.

Abbas met with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in Washington in 2001 while he was in the United States for medical treatment.

His more moderate tone - he says independence can only be won by negotiation -- has made him more acceptable to the U.S. and the Israelis than Arafat.

Abbas shares most of the same demands as Arafat: a Palestinian state spanning all the territories Israel has occupied 1967, including east Jerusalem.

Born in the village of Safad, in 1935, he fled to Syria in 1948. He studied law in Egypt and gained a PhD in history from Moscow’s Oriental College. He holds a B.A. in Law from Damascus University.