In early 1980 Abbas Mahmoud was elected to the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Due to his firm beliefs and keen mind, he quickly moved up the career ladder.
In the 90-ies he was engaged in the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian relations. In 1996 Mahmoud Abbas assumed the duties of the Secretary General of the PLO.
In late 2004 M. Abbas became the leader of the Palestinian Authority.
On November 23, 2008 the PLO Council elected him as the new President of the PNA (Palestinian National Authority).
Interesting Facts
Mr. Mahmoud Abbas graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Damascus and completed postgraduate studies at the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, defended his doctoral thesis in the Moscow branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR on the topic "Secret Relationship between Nazism and Zionism".
Abbas Mahmoud is one of the founding fathers of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah).