GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Mahmoud Abbas has no intention to resign and will remain president until the next elections, senior Fatah official Jamal Muhassen said Thursday.

Abbas was elected in democratic elections and will leave his post in a democratic way, Muhassan told Ma'an.

On Wednesday, the Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported that Abbas had told faction leaders to find a new president in 10 days at a meeting in Ramallah.

"You have 10 days until I come back from the United States, and you must look for a new president," Abbas said, according to an official who was at the meeting.

Abbas has threatened to resign several times before. His democratic mandate expired in 2009 but has remained president in the absence of elections.