It’s not worth a headline to the major media, but buried in this AFP article about Abu Mazen “briefing” the dictator of Oman is the important revelation that Abu Mazen’s call to “stop the violence” has been rejected not only by Hamas (as expected), but by the suicide bomber wing of his own party: Abbas briefs Omani ruler on preparations for Palestinian polls.

The radical Islamist group Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad have rejected the argument that the use of weapons since the September 2000 outbreak of the intifada had been a mistake.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of the mainstream Fatah movement to which Abbas belongs, has also turned down his calls to disarm, even though it is backing him in the January 9 elections.

But Abbas, who has criticized the “militarization” of the struggle against Israeli occupation, voiced optimism on Wednesday that hardliners would eventually heed his truce calls.