The Chairman of the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Dr. Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen) and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie'a (Abu-Alala) and their accompanying delegation left Riyadh today. They were seen off by the Minister of State for Shoura Council Affairs Dr. Saud Al-Mathami and a number of senior officials. Prior to Dr. Abbas's departure, he told a press conference that there were consultations with the Kingdom ever since the beginning of their revolution and they still need the Kingdom to support them in the next phase. He added that the initiative announced by Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, was a solution to stop the conflict but Israel does not want the peace process to go ahead. He said that there will be local and municipal elections on December 23 and the presidential election will be conducted on January 9,2005.
