Rumors about Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s state of health have re-emerged, suggesting an escalating battle over his succession that has been raging in Ramallah the past few weeks. Abbas, 86, has been criticized for promoting, Hussein al-Sheikh,61, to the key post of Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Sheikh is a senior official with the ruling Fatah faction and has been considered a leading candidate to succeed Abbas.