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French minister Bernard Kouchner praises President Mahmoud Abbas

Thursday, 19 November 2009

French minister Bernard Kouchner praises President Mahmoud Abbas

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has done what he can to persuade Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to think again about standing for re-election in 2010.

Mr Kouchner is reported to have described Mr Abbas as "indispensable" and to have indicated that he thinks that the president has an important function in the stalled Middle East peace process.

The two men met in Amman and a representative for Mr Abbas said that the meeting mainly focused on the idea of starting peace talks again.

The foreign minister for France said he wanted to offer his country's support to Mr Abbas, and he hoped he could get the president to reconsider standing for election again.

Mr Kouchner was in Jordan ahead of travelling on to Israel, where he will be meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bid to open peace talks once more.

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