Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party nominated him as its candidate for upcoming presidential elections, a senior Fatah official said on Saturday.
"Fatah is ready to run in the presidential elections and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the movement's candidate," said Ahmed Qurei, the chief Palestinian peace negotiator, reported dpa.
Abbas was elected president in January 2005 after the death of Yasser Arafat, but the vote was not contested by Hamas, the biggest Islamic faction in the Palestinian territories.
Hamas said it will not support Abbas if he runs for reelection when his term ends on January 25, 2009.
The president said earlier this week that he was in favour of early parliamentary and presidential elections, but did not name a date.
In a gesture of reconciliation, Abbas said he is ready for dialogue to end the feud that saw him fire the unity government with Hamas a year ago after it seized control of the Gaza Strip.