PLO body backs Abbas decision to form government

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A top body of the Palestine Liberation Organization approved on Thursday Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' decision to form a new government without Hamas, a senior member said. It also recommended dissolving all Palestinian militias, which would include not only Hamas' Executive Force, but also the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades of Fatah. The central council of the PLO said that Abbas and his government in the West Bank should prepare for early presidential and legislative elections, said Salah Rafaat, a member of the council secretariat. He said the resolutions, to be read later Thursday, were already prepared.