An armed Palestinian militant from the Fatah holds a poster of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to celebrate his victory in the presidential election in Gaza City, late January 9, 2005.  (Xinhua Photo)

Many Palestinians held high expectations on Mahmoud Abbas who proclaimed victory in Sunday'selection to succeed late Yasser Arafat as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) chairman.

"May God bless him, he (Abbas) is facing so many difficulties and pressures imposed by his people, Israel and the whole world,"said Suleiman Fayyad, one of his supporters who took to the streets to celebrate the victory by the Palestine Liberation Organization chief.

He said he hopes Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, would be able to restore law and order in the Palestinian territories and improvethe living conditions of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"We want to see an end to the killings in the streets, an end tothe chaos and anarchy," said Fayyad.

Eyad Oudeh, whose 12-year-old brother was shot dead at the beginning of the Intifada (Uprising) over four years ago, said "we are looking for the best man for the post, and we believe Abu Mazenis the best man because he will follow the steps of Arafat."After prolonged conflict, many Palestinians hope Abbas would bring the battered economy back on its feet and find a solution to the Israeli occupation.

"With Abu Mazen, we want to show the world that the Palestinian people are not terrorists and deserve freedom and an independent state," said a woman whose son was killed in 2001.

Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan al-Khatib told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that the new president will face two challenges, namely, to unravel the tangle of internal Palestinian situation and to revive peace talks with Israel.

In short terms, Abbas has to rearrange the inner situation,including curbing arms proliferation, ending anarchy and reining inmilitants, the minister said.

Khatib reckoned that to dissuade militants, mainly Hamas and Islamic Jihad (Holy War) fighters, would be Abbas' most daunting task.

"If Abu Mazen can't get help from Israel, the Arab countries and especially the United States, he is going to loose a lot," said apolitical analyst.

Abbas declared victory two hours after polls were closed at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) with a landslide 66 percent of the votes. Officialresults of the election will be announced Monday.

Some 65 percent of the 1.8 million eligible voters in the WestBank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem turned out for the election,the first of its kind since 1996, when late Arafat was elected the PNA chairman.