JERUSALEM — A conference of the Palestinian National Council that had been scheduled for next week has been indefinitely postponed amid boycotts by some political factions and debate about the agenda and structure of the meeting. The 700-plus-member council, which has not had a regular session since 1996, was slated to convene in the West Bank city of Ramallah next Monday and Tuesday to consider, among other things, the membership of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee. The P.L.O. chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, who is also president of the Palestinian Authority, was to submit his resignation along with 10 of the executive committee’s 18 members, though it was unclear whether he and his colleagues would actually step down or stand for re-election. Whether Mr. Abbas truly plans to withdraw from political life or is trying to shake up the leadership in order to curtail criticism and consolidate power has been the subject of speculation for weeks.
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(via NY Times)
