Abbas takes pride in rejecting US request

"In a meeting with the Kuwaiti press... President [Abbas] expressed willingness to sign a document of national reconciliation with Hamas... Concerning the agreement expressed by the head of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, to sign the agreement and the question of whether the two sides are being subjected to external pressure, the President confirmed that he had been subjected to heavy pressure by the Americans, and that they had asked him not to sign, but he had signed [a preliminary agreement - Ed.] He said: '[For] anyone who claims that I am acceding to [American] pressure - I am not acceding to them. I have a great number of examples [proving] this.' He emphasized that the national interest was far more important than the other matters."