Good news

Mahmoud Abbas yesterday declared victory of Palestine's presidential election:

Mahmoud Abbas, who opposes continuing violence against Israel, got straight to work this morning after his declaration of victory in Sunday's election for president of the Palestinian Authority.

Official results released today showed him winning by a large margin, with 62.3 percent of the vote. His main challenger, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, got 19.8 percent. Even before the results were announced, Mr. Abbas met with the current and future prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, about the shape of a new cabinet.

There is a hard road ahead for Mr. Abbas, but the election of a moderate leader offers definite hope for the eventual success of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.