News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who recently stated that a new Arab state should be established in six months, now has pushed back the timing. He said during his visit to Indonesia that he expects "achievement of a real solution before the end of 2008."

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose nation hosts the world's largest Muslim population, told the PA chairman, "In concern with our brothers living in refugee camps, Indonesia vows to continue its humanitarian assistance" to the PA. Indonesia next month will hold the presidency in the United Nations Security Council, where its hopes to use it influence to smooth relations between Hamas and Fatah factions.