During an interview with BBC Arabic on Friday, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) announced that he is acting on advice and delaying the scheduled PA general election in January 2010, al-Jazeera reports.

Abu Mazen added, “Perhaps they will be delayed by a year, or less, I don’t know. What I am saying now is that I will not be a candidate.” He assured PA residents that he is also taking measure to prevent a “constitutional vacuum” following the expiration of his term on January 25th.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)