Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, 86, was en route Monday (April 5th) to Germany, where he was due to carry out "routine" medical examinations.
The Palestinian president is expected to take the opportunity to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel, a source in his office told AFP.
"Mr. Abbas left his headquarters in Ramallah in the West Bank aboard a Jordanian helicopter [came to take him to Jordan from where he will fly to Germany]", added this source under cover of the 'anonymity.
In Germany where he will stay three days, the Palestinian president "will meet Chancellor Merkel and carry out routine medical examinations," she continued without further clarification.
In 2018, the Palestinian president was hospitalized for more than a week in Ramallah with pneumonia, which rekindled speculation about his future and his succession.
Abbas, politically threatened
The announced trip to Germany comes at a time when Mahmoud Abbas finds himself politically weakened.
According to a decree he signed in January, legislative elections will take place on May 22 and a presidential election will take place on July 31, the first polls organized since 2006.
Mahmoud Abbas is lowest in the polls, which place his rival Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah cadre imprisoned in Israel, or the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, at the top of the Palestinian figures most likely to win the polls.
His secular party, Fatah, is divided: Nasser al-Kidwa was excluded for criticizing the Palestinian ruling class.
He affirmed his intention to compete alone in the legislative elections and obtained the support of Marwan Barghouthi for this.
The electoral commission has approved 36 lists for the legislative elections and is due to announce their composition on Tuesday.
With AFP
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