President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement on Thursday evening that he would not be seeking a second term has left the PLO and Fatah without their top nominee, several officials said beforehand.

According to Yasser Abed Rabbo, the secretary-general of the PLO's Executive Committee, Abbas remains the preferred candidate for next January's elections. He told reporters at a news conference in Ramallah that the PLO would reject Abbas' retirement from politics.

It is the committee's assumption, the secretary-general added, that Abbas will run for president not only on Fatah's ticket, but representing every PLO member faction, as well. Several hours before Abbas' announcement, Abed Rabbo said Abbas has the PLO's full support, and urged the president to reconsider.

For its part, Abbas' Fatah party scheduled a protest march in Ramallah in protest of the president and party leader's decision to retire from politics, despite that he said his decision was final.

Fatah spokesman Fahmi Az-Zarir said that during a PLO Executive Committee meeting, Abbas announced he had had enough with "Israel's obstruction of the peace process" and its refusal to cooperate with Palestinian and international calls that it fulfill its most basic agreements, namely freezing settlements.

In an interview with Ma'an Radio, Az-Zarir added that Abbas is "upset and angry" over various internal and political matters, but particularly on "the peace process, on which the Palestinian people rely to end the Israeli occupation with Arab and international support."

"I think the international community, especially the United States and the European Union, should understand the damage done to the process over the past four years, plagued by the absence of any real achievements," he added, expressing concern over what Abbas' absence could mean for political stability in the region.

Hamas: Internal Fatah matter

The Hamas movement called the rumors an "internal Fatah matter," the Paris-based news agency Agence France-Presse reported, but in any case said the US and Israel was responsible.

"We in Hamas consider this step to be a message of rebuke to his American and Israeli friends after they ignored him and turned him into a mere tool," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said, according to AFP.

Abbas announced his January resignation in a speech on Thursday evening on the Palestinian Authority's official broadcaster, Palestine TV, which carried the remarks live.