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Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, was selected by Yasser Arafat to be the first Palestinian Prime Minister. Abbas, the PLO Secretary General, was a co-founder of the mainstream PLO Fatah faction which Arafat heads and was a central figure in peace negotiations with Israel which climaxed with the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accord.
Born in Safed in British Mandate Palestine in 1935, his family fled to Syria during the 1948-49 war over Israel's creation. He earned a law degree in Damascus, and a doctorate in history from Moscow Oriental College. After helping to found the Fatah movement, Abbas always held ranking posts that kept him in close contact with Arafat. But during the decades in exile in Jordan and Lebanon, he was little known to Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. He was among the first Palestinian political leaders to recognize Israel, returning in 1995, and living in Ramallah. Abbas became Arafat's second-in-command in 1996, succeeding to his position as prime minister when Arafat died. Abbas was elected President of the Palestinian Authority in 2005, but a year later, the more radical right-wing Hamas coalition took a majority in the legislature. In 2007, after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip, Abbas dissolved the existing government and established an emergency government without Hamas.
Abbas is married and had three grown sons, though the eldest, Mazen, died in 2002 of a heart attack.
Last updated: December 14, 2008.
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