Jailed Barghouthi joins presidential race
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-02 15:41

Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi joined the race for president to succeed Yasser Arafat on Wednesday, drawing condemnation from his own Fatah movement and threatening to split the group.

A Palestinian student holds a poster of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi during a rally at Al-Najah university in the West Bank city of Nablus November 30, 2004. Barghouthi decided on Wednesday to run for Palestinian president, reversing his decision to stay out of the race, Palestinian officials said. [Reuters]

Barghouthi's candidacy as an independent dashed expectations of almost certain victory by the dominant Fatah faction's official nominee, moderate former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, whose only other challengers were fringe figures.

"I officially registered him," Barghouthi's wife Fadwa told reporters after visiting him in jail, where he reversed an earlier decision to opt out of the Jan. 9 poll.

Fatah's central committee called the move an "act of political irresponsibility" and said Barghouthi was abandoning his Fatah affiliation by running against its candidate.

"Walking away from the decision of the Fatah institutions is an assault on Fatah," said Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, a senior Palestinian official who spoke on behalf of the committee.

Palestinian officials said last Thursday that Barghouthi, 45, had decided to run. But he opted to drop his candidacy a day later after coming under pressure from Fatah officials worried about a split.

"I am running in this democratic battle ... to achieve peace on the basis of justice, freedom, the return of Palestinian refugees, and freedom for our prisoners," Barghouthi said in a statement read by his wife. He called for a fair election campaign.

His wife did not say why Barghouthi had vacillated on whether to run or what had changed his mind.

Barghouthi has already acquired more than the 5,000 signatures necessary to put his name on the ballot, the manager of a campaign to free him from jail said.

FATAH VOWS UNITY

Some Fatah officials vowed unity and said they were confident Barghouthi's challenge would not hurt their movement.

Zakariya al-Zubaidi, a commander of the group's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which has carried out suicide bombings against Israelis during a 4-year-old uprising and has also been party to internal Palestinian unrest, said they were loyal to Abbas.

"Fatah is united and will remain united," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, who was one of Arafat's main aides.

"This decision is a personal decision for anyone who wants to be nominated. But the Fatah movement has nominated one candidate, Abu Mazen," he said, referring to Abbas, who was recently nominated as the group's presidential candidate.

Abbas, 69, lacks the charismatic Barghouthi's grassroots popularity but is favored as a future peacemaker by Israel and the United States. His defeat could deal a blow to any international effort to revive violence-stalled peace efforts. Zubaidi, al-Aqsa commander in the West Bank town of Jenin, said the Brigades were united in backing Abbas and sought to protect Fatah.

"We will not support him (Barghouthi) at all ... We will not let anybody, no matter who, create any division or split in the Fatah movement. We shall protect Fatah's unity by all means."

Israeli troops arrested Barghouthi in 2002 and he was sentenced to five life terms last June after being convicted of ordering militant attacks that killed Israelis. He denied involvement, saying he was a political leader only.

Israel has ruled out an early release for Barghouthi, raising questions about how he will campaign for office and later govern if elected.

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