Abbas sees progress toward truce
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GAZA CITY -- Palestinians and Israelis moved closer to halting more than four years of bloody violence yesterday, with the new Palestinian leader saying he had made progress toward a truce deal with militants. Israel pledged for the first time to hold fire if calm prevails.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in  as Palestinian president on Saturday, but his call for a  cease-fire was overshadowed by fresh violence in Gaza and  Israel's decision to cut ties over a deadly militant attack.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faces  a crucial test of his new leadership on Tuesday when he visits  Gaza to try to persuade militants defying his calls for calm to  agree to cease attacks on Israel.
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Palestinian commanders hoped to get an  Israeli go-ahead Tuesday for deploying security forces in south  Gaza to solidify a de facto cease-fire that would help new  President Mahmoud Abbas talk peace with Israel.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - Mahmoud Abbas, a  Palestinian moderate aiming to talk peace with Israel, was on  course for a landslide victory in an election for a successor  to Yasser Arafat Sunday, exit polls showed.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to make a "decisive" statement Thursday on escalating factional fighting in Gaza, Fatah sources tell CNN.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged  militant groups in Gaza on Saturday to agree to a mutual  cease-fire with Israel but they said they would only consider  one if the Jewish state promised to stop its assaults first.
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Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in as Palestinian president to succeed Yasser Arafat on Saturday, but his call for a truce and talks were overshadowed by Israel's decision to cut ties over a deadly militant attack.
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An armed group linked to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah party announced Saturday it was willing to accept a cease-fire if Israel also agrees to stop attacks, a sign of progress in five days of talks between Abbas and militant leaders.
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A leader of the Palestinian faction Hamas says he is ready for talks with Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.
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Hamas promised on Saturday to maintain a  de facto truce and, in a major policy change, not to retaliate  immediately for any Israeli violence while it weighs  Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's ceasefire with Israel.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert next week and Palestinian sources said on Tuesday he may float the idea of widening a truce deal to include the occupied West Bank.
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Just two days after branding Israel the "Zionist enemy," Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas pledged on Thursday to pursue peace talks following the Jan. 9 presidential election he is widely expected to win.
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Mahmoud Abbas, the leading candidate for the Palestinian Authority presidency, said yesterday that Palestinians wanted to begin negotiating final statehood terms
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Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he is ready to honor the security commitments in an internationally backed peace plan, adding that he hopes to resume negotiations with Israel soon.
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Palestinian militants signaled on Sunday  they would help maintain calm in Gaza for at least a month but  denied Israeli reports they had agreed to a cease-fire at the  behest of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
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Palestinians and Israelis moved closer to halting more than four years of bloody violence on Sunday, with the new Palestinian leader saying he had made progress toward a truce deal with militants. Israel pledged for the first time to hold fire if calm prevails.