“We offer this victory to the soul of the brother martyr Yasser Arafat and to all Palestinians,” said Abbas

RAMALLAH, January 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Mahmoud Abbas was formally declared the new Palestinian president Monday, January 10, after a clear election victory, according to official results.

Abbas, the candidate of the mainstream Fatah movement, garnered 62.3 percent of votes cast winning 66.7% of the West Bank's votes and 65% of the Gaza Strip's, said the Palestinian Central Elections Commission.

His nearest rival Mustafa Al-Barghouthi won 19.8 percent, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“We offer this victory to the soul of the brother martyr Yasser Arafat and to all Palestinians,” Abbas said in his victory speech.

“This means that Abu Mazen has the mandate to implement his program,” said victorious campaign manager Mohammed Shtayeh, using Abbas's nickname.

Abbas has pledged to remain committed to the key positions of late president Yasser Arafat with a strong opposition to the militarization of the four-year-old second Intifada.

Five other presidential candidates, ranging from a Marxist candidate to an academic under US house arrest, trailed far behind.

Palestinian election officials extended polling in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) by two hours because some voters were being held up by Israeli checkpoints in the territories occupied since the 1967 Middle East war.

Hamas Respects Results

Turnout looked healthy despite a boycott by the main resistance groups Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

The elections commission said around 70 percent of the 1.2 million registered voters had cast their ballots on Sunday.

Hamas said it respects the results of the elections, but cast doubts on Abbas’ popularity.

“We respect the choice of the Palestinian people but for (Abbas) to get 70 percent of the votes of the eligible voters means he got the support of some 35 percent of the Palestinians. This is very weak,” Sheikh Hassan Youssef, a Hamas leader, told Reuters.

Mahmoud Zahar, another Hamas leader, told AFP his movement would be “constructive, not destructive.”

Following a series of political maneuvers, Hamas decided last month to boycott the election.

It said on December 22 it would neither support any of the seven hopefuls nor name a candidate, charging the vote has been “tailored” for Abbas.

The movement’s longstanding position, however, is the insistence on holding general elections across the occupied Palestinian territories, encompassing presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections.

Helpful Bush

US President George W. Bush hailed the vote as an historic day for the Palestinian people.

“Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza took a key step toward building a democratic future by choosing a new president in elections that observers describe as largely free and fair,” he said in a statement.

Bush said the United States stands ready to help the new president as he faces up to critical post-election challenges.

“The United States stands ready to help the Palestinian people realize their aspirations," he added.

Abbas is under pressure at home and abroad to enact reforms to end widespread corruption and revive a Palestinian Authority whose structures crumbled over the past few years.

Bush said the vote and parliamentary elections that will follow in several months “are essential for the establishment of a sovereign, independent, viable, democratic, and peaceful Palestinian state that can live alongside a safe and secure Israel.”

Earlier on Sunday, Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Israel, as an initial confidence-building measure, to release more Palestinian prisoners as part of a post-election push to revive peace talks with Israel.

“The United States is standing ready to do a lot more,” Powell said.

He said Bush should consider sending an envoy to the region “if we see the kind of progress that is possible in the next weeks or months.”

Condoleezza Rice, Bush's nominee to replace Powell, is expected to visit Europe soon after her Senate confirmation to help coordinate Middle East peace efforts, officials said.

She is also considering making a trip early in the year to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the region, said sources close to the discussions.