U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday congratulated Mahmoud Abbas for winning the vote to become leader of the Palestinian Authority. He also congratulated the Palestinian Central Elections Commission "for the organization of credible and genuine elections under challenging conditions". "The commitment to democracy of the Palestinian people and their institutions is a strong foundation for President Abbas to build on," Annan said in a statement. He said he looked forward to working with Abbas in implementing the so-called road map peace plan, proposed by the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia. Abbabs replaced Yasser Arafat, who died in November. The road map called for a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians and for the establishment of a Palestinian state this year after the implementation of numerous political and security steps to be taken by both sides. But most of those steps have remained unimplemented. The official results of the Palestinian election were released Monday and showed Abbas, one of six candidates, easily winning with 62.3 per cent of the vote in Sunday's election.
