Palestinian leader Abbas names likely successor in bid to reassure world powers

27/4/2025 6:22

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named close confidant Hussein al-Sheikh as his deputy and likely successor on Saturday, the Palestine Liberation Organisation said, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership.



Abbas, 89, has headed the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 but he had for years resisted internal reforms including the naming of a successor.



Sheikh, born in 1960, is a veteran of Fatah, the main PLO faction which was founded by Arafat and is now headed by Abbas. He is widely viewed as a pragmatist with very close ties to Israel.



He was named PLO vice president after the organisation's executive committee approved his nomination by Abbas, the PLO said in a statement.