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PALESTINIANS-POLITICS-ABBAS-HEALTH LEAD
Palestinian president Abbas leaves hospital
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories, May 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Palestinian
president Mahmud Abbas left hospital on Monday following eight days of
treatment for pneumonia and pledged to return to work, an AFP journalist
reported.
The 83-year-old, dressed in a suit and walking without assistance, gave a
short statement before leaving the hospital near Ramallah in the occupied
West Bank, saying he planned to be back at work in his office as normal on
Tuesday.
Abbas was admitted on May 20 to the Istishari Arab Hospital with
complications following an ear operation, including high fever.
Officials have since said he was being treated for pneumonia.
His extended hospitalisation led to widespread speculation over whether his
condition was worse than what was being disclosed.
No successor is publicly in line for the Palestinian presidency, which has
added to concerns over Abbas’s health. Uncertainty surrounds any potential
succession process following his death.
Abbas won a four-year term as president in 2005, but he has since remained
in office without further elections.
Abbas argues the split between his Fatah party and Islamist movement Hamas,
which controls the Gaza Strip, has made elections politically impossible.
A moderate, he has been involved in decades of negotiations with Israel but
is unpopular among Palestinians, with the majority wanting him to step down.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1658 hrs