Zahar: Abbas spoke out against Intifada to protect his life - Jerusalem Post

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is afraid that he will be killed if he insists on a third Intifada, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Sunday in an interview with Army Radio.

Reacting to an interview Abbas gave to Channel 2, aired over the weekend, Zahar said, Abbas was scared of being murdered, "like they poisoned [former PLO chairman Yasser] Arafat to death."

Abbas told Channel 2 on Thursday that he did not want to return to his former hometown of Safed and that a Palestinian state would be established only within the pre-1967 lines. Abbas also said that as long as he is in power there will not be another intifada.

"With these words, Abu Mazen (Abbas) is actually protecting his life - but at the same time, he is taking a gamble on his good reputation," Zahar added.

Zahar said that the radio was not the place to offer peace proposals and maintained that Abbas had no right to say what he did. "All Palestinians, everywhere, are against him," he contended.