Abbas touts successful Fatah conference

In his speech closing the seventh Fatah congress, PA President Abbas touts the conference as a success without outside intervention.

“Our decision was independent and no one dictated a thing to us,” he says.

Before the congress, Abbas had complained of outside pressure, reportedly from Arab countries that wanted him to reconcile with party rival Mohammad Dahlan.

Dahlan and his associates were not invited to the conference and their exclusion is seen as a victory for Abbas.

Abbas, who was reelected the head of Fatah on the first day of the five-day conference, says he will work with the newly appointed members of the Fatah Executive Committee to “adopt the necessary changes in the internal organization of the [Fatah] movement.”

“We dedicate the success of this conference to Yasser Arafat, the lives of his comrades and all the martyrs,” Abbas says.

— Dov Lieber