Liberman calls Abbas an obstacle, says he should resign

            Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman says Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is an obstacle to peace, and that he hopes Abbas will soon resign. Liberman lashed out at the Palestinian leader at a briefing in Jerusalem with reporters. He said Abbas has been leading a campaign to deligitimize Israel internationally, and that he has become an "obstacle that needs to be removed." In the past, Abbas has repeatedly threatened to resign. Liberman called on him to carry out his threat, adding that "whoever comes after him will be better." Sharp reactions in the Palestinian Authority to the statement of Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman that President Mahmoud Abbas is the greatest obstacle to peace. Abbas adviser Yasser Abd Rabbo is calling Liberman, an enemy of peace and the most extreme and racist person in Israel. Abd Rabbo is calling on the Israeli government to apologize for the foreign minister's comments. The Palestinian presidential adviser added that if Liberman's comments represent the official Israeli position, it means that Israel intends to launch a political war against the Palestinian Authority. Senior Palestinian official, Saeb Erekat, went one step further, charging that Foreign Minister Liberman's statement is tantamount to incitement that could be interpreted as a call to assassinate President Abbas. Erekat says he has passed on this message to the United States and the European Union. (20,40)