RAMALLAH, Nov 23: Palestinian presidential favourite Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Tuesday never to give up the late Yasser Arafat's bedrock demand that Israel recognize a "right of return" of Palestinian refugees.

The issue was a key factor in the collapse of peace talks in 2000. US President George Bush last April publicly embraced Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's position that refugees be allowed into any new Palestinian state but not into Israel.

Mahmoud Abbas was nominated on Tuesday by the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Fatah group as its candidate for the January election to choose Yasser Arafat's successor.

Addressing a session of the Palestinian parliament after the nomination, Mr Abbas said: "We promise that we will not rest until the right of return of our people is achieved and the tragedy of our diaspora ends."

The session was convened to mourn Mr Arafat, who died of an undisclosed illness in France on Nov 11. "We will stick to Palestinian steadfastness in support of the dream you (Arafat) lived for and you promised to your people," said Mr Abbas in an apparent effort to build credibility among hardliners and the weighty refugee constituency.

Mr Abbas, 69, as a boy was among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who left or were forced out by Israel's 1948 creation. A day after US Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Israel and the Palestinian territories, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks in Israel with Mr Sharon.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was due in for talks on Wednesday likely to focus on the Palestinian ballot and Mr Sharon's unilateral plan. -Reuters