Malaysia urged Palestinians to support their newly elected President Mahmoud Abbas, saying they should work together to achieve peace with Israel. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, one of the Islamic world's staunchest backers of the Palestinian cause, said Abbas faces a formidable task in taking over former leader Yasser Arafat's efforts to bring about peace and freedom to the Palestinians. "We hope that he will succeed in all his endeavors and negotiations to bring peace to Palestine and also to create peace in Palestine-Israel relations," said Abdullah, who chairs the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world's largest Muslim political grouping. Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Palestinians should work in solidarity "to bring into realization the birth of the Palestinian state." The people must "give their support to the leader that has been elected," Syed Hamid was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "I think the democratic process that sometimes takes place may not be perfect, but it provides another opportunity, another ray of hope for them to achieve peace," Syed Hamid said.
