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CAIRO, Nov 06, 2009 (AFP) - Arab League chief Amr Mussa urged Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to reconsider his decision to not run in an upcoming election, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.

Mussa assured Abbas of his backing in a phone conversation on Thursday night after the Palestinian leader, who has threatened to resign several times, insisted in a speech that his announcement was "not a stunt," MENA said.

Palestinian officials said that Abbas's decision to not run in the January election was motivated by his disappointment with US efforts to halt Israeli settlement construction, which he had said must happen before peace talks can resume.

Abbas's frustration was said to have peaked when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised an Israeli proposal for some settlement limits as "unprecedented," after months of Washington demanding a full freeze.

Clinton reacted to Abbas's announcement by saying she would work with him in "any capacity."

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© Copyright AFP 2009.