PLO's Abbas is front runner in elections to succeed Arafat

MIDDLE EAST: As the Palestinian presidential candidates campaigned in West Bank cities and towns yesterday, the election commission announced that the mainstream Fatah movement had won control of 16 municipalities in last Thursday's local polls, the Islamic Hamas movement won in nine, and the two parties were tied in one.

Although Fatah depicted the result as a victory, Palestinian analysts saw it as a boost for Hamas, which is boycotting the presidentials.

Meanwhile, 560 senior Fatah and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) figures published a letter urging Palestinian militants to end the armed struggle, strengthening the position of PLO chairman Mr Mahmud Abbas, the front runner of seven in the presidential contest, who has pledged an end to violence if he is elected on January 9th.

On Saturday, Mr Abbas kicked off his campaign at a rally in Al-Bireh near Ramallah by donning the mantle of the late Palestinian president, Mr Yasser Arafat, and demanding an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and a settlement of the refugee problem. "Israel must pull out of all Palestinian lands occupied in 1967...We want a state on the lands of '67 and that means we will not concede on Jerusalem."

He also called for the release of all Palestinian political prisoners, particularly Mr Marwan Barghouti, the popular head of Fatah in the West Bank, imprisoned by Israel for involvement in the Intifada. The victory of Mr Abbas, considered a moderate by Israel and the West, was assured when Mr Barghouti pulled out of the race.

Although Israel rejects Mr Abbas' stand, it represents the minimal demands of most Palestinians. However, Mr Abbas distanced himself from Mr Arafat by eschewing violence.

"We are choosing the path of peace and negotiation," he said, adding a warning: "If there is no peace here, there will be no peace in the Middle East or the rest of the world."

Polls give Mr Abbas 55-58 per cent of the vote, while his nearest rival, Dr Mustafa Barghouti, has 18 per cent. Dr Barghouti, a physician and legislator, launched his bid by laying a wreath on Mr Arafat's grave in Ramallah. Although a critic of Mr Arafat, Dr Barghouti also pledged to abide by his principles in negotiating a settlement. He portrays himself and his Independent National Initiative party as alternatives to Mr Abbas, the candidate of the "old guard" and Fatah, discredited by mismanagement and corruption during its eight years of rule.

A third candidate, Mr Taysir Khalid of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, flouted Israel's prohibition against rallies in Jerusalem by ad- dressing supporters in the eastern sector of the city. On a walking tour of the area, he said: "To the Americans, the British, the Israelis and the others, everything is finalised", meaning Mr Abbas is set to win. "But we haven't voted yet."