Top Abbas aide Hussein al-Sheikh tapped as first ever PLO vice president

The Palestine Liberation Organization on Saturday announced the appointment of a top aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as its first-ever vice president. Hussein al-Sheikh currently serves as secretary-general of the Executive Committee, the PLO’s senior and most limited body, and is known for his close ties with Israel and the United States. His elevation to deputy head of the PLO Executive Committee is expected to strengthen his position in the succession battle for control over the PA when the 89-year-old Abbas dies.

In his new post, al-Sheikh will also be referred to as the vice president of the State of Palestine, which the Palestinians hope will one day receive full international recognition. The selection of al-Sheikh as vice president came two days after the PLO announced the creation of the office, as Abbas seeks greater relevance and a role in postwar planning for the Gaza Strip after having been largely sidelined by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Analyst Aref Jaffal said the new role was created to pave the way for someone to take the reins from Abbas, “as there are many things the Palestinian situation requires.”“The Palestinian political system is already miserable, so I believe that all these arrangements are a prelude to creating a successor to Abbas,” Jaffal, the director of the Al-Marsad Election Monitoring Center, told AFP.  (Read More)