Russia hopes Palestinian vote will promote peace roadmap

MOSCOW: Russia hopes this weekend’s Palestinian presidential election will provide fresh impetus to the peace roadmap and dialogue with Israel, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. “Moscow hopes that after the election of a new leader of the Palestinian authority a substantial dialogue will be renewed between the Palestinian authorities and Israel leading to concrete actions ... to end the violence, normalise the situation and relaunch all aspects of the roadmap,” it said in a statement. The roadmap, which offers a blueprint for the creation of a Palestinian state in 2005, is backed by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States. Polls show PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas has at least a 40-point lead over his nearest rival, the independent candidate Mustafa Barghuti, ahead of Sunday’s vote to succeed the late Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority. Russia will send observers to the polls. afp

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