Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Monday he was thrilled at the election of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, declaring that he is capable of making peace with Israel.
Clinton has said the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "missed an opportunity" for a settlement with Israel at peace talks he convened at Camp David in July 2000.
However, Abbas, now has an opportunity to make peace and fulfill the dream of a Palestinian state, the former president told a news conference at UNICEF headquarters in New York.
"I'm thrilled by his election because he eschewed violence, but also because he has national support now," Clinton said. "I think he is certainly capable of putting together a coalition which will make peace, which may even extend beyond the PLO, to the other groups."
"I think he's a very good man and I think he's got a team of very able people," Clinton said. "I think he was clearly the choice of a vast majority of his constituents, and I think all that is to the good."
