CAIRO, Dec 1: PLO chief Mahmud Abbas, the frontrunner in the Palestinian leadership vote, said in remarks published on Wednesday he was ready to negotiate a final settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - even raising the prospect of a deal next year.

"We don't see any reason not to start negotiating either officially or unofficially a definitive solution, under the auspices of the quartet or another state," Abbas said in an interview in Egypt's Al-Mussawar magazine.

The Middle East quartet, grouping the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, drew up the so-called peace roadmap which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state in 2005.

"That is the only date currently proposed. If there is good faith, we can start treating problems to reach a settlement in the 2005 timeframe," said Abbas. But US President George W. Bush said after his November 4 re-election that he would devote his new four-year mandate to helping a Palestinian state see the light of day - pushing back the 2005 deadline laid down in roadmap.

Abbas, also known by his nom-de-guerre Abu Mazen, is the overwhelming favourite to win the January 9 election to replace the late Yasser Arafat at the head of the Palestinian Authority after being chosen as the dominant Fatah faction's candidate.

The peace plan has been left in tatters by Israeli-Palestinian violence but the international community is pushing both sides to renew negotiations following Arafat's death last month.

Abbas said he was committed to Palestinian demands for a final agreement, including negotiating the right of return for Palestinian refugees that he said "does not mean we want to change Israel's demographic structure."

"We will put UN Resolution 193 (on the right of return) on the negotiation table to try to find an accord acceptable to both Israelis and Palestinians." On Israel's demands for the disarming of Palestinian militant factions, he said: "We can't do that in a night. It will be done progressively." -AFP