Jerusalem tops agenda in Palestinian poll campaign
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-08 10:27

Palestinian presidential frontrunner Mahmoud Abbas canceled an election rally in Jerusalem on Friday, objecting to Israeli security, and his main rival was detained at a holy site in the city.

"Today we did not go to Jerusalem, but tomorrow we will be in Jerusalem because Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Palestinian people," Abbas told thousands of Palestinians in the nearby West Bank village of Bir Nabala to roars of approval.

"We want our Jerusalem. Let us go to Jerusalem as free people in our millions," he said, while keeping alive the prospect of peace talks with Israel on the final day of campaigning for Sunday's election to succeed Yasser Arafat.

Israel calls Jerusalem its "eternal indivisible capital" and its future status lies at the heart of the Middle East conflict. Palestinians say the eastern half of the city, captured by Israel in 1967, is the capital of their future state.

Abbas, who has revived international hopes for Middle East peace by promising to try to end militant violence and pursue talks with Israel, decided he did not want to be pictured being shadowed by Israeli security units in Jerusalem, aides said.

This could have undercut his efforts to win over militants who in the past have branded him a lackey of Israel, they said, adding Israel had told Abbas it would impose heavy security because ultra-nationalist Jews might attack him.

His main challenger, Mustafa Barghouthi, went to Arab East Jerusalem but was detained briefly by Israeli police when he tried to enter a site holy to both Muslims and Jews.

HOLY SITE DISPUTE

"I am coming here to pray in the mosque and now you are arresting me. You are arresting a presidential candidate with a permit to be in Jerusalem," Barghouthi said as he was detained at an entrance to Jerusalem's walled Old City.

Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman said Barghouthi had a permit for an election debate in an East Jerusalem hotel but not to appear in the holy site known to Jews as Temple Mount and Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif.

"Barghouthi tried to enter Temple Mount for electioneering purposes," said Kleiman, adding this could have caused violence.

Israel said Palestinian residents of Jerusalem could vote in the election and candidates could campaign in private buildings.

Abbas, who took over the Palestine Liberation Organization when Arafat died in November, signaled a wish for stability to foster peacemaking, saying he would keep Ahmed Qurie as prime minister. They are moderates who were long-time Arafat deputies.

Arafat often called for "millions of martyrs to march to Jerusalem," a slogan Israel regarded as incitement to violence. Arafat denied fomenting bloodshed.

Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war in a move not recognized internationally.

Opinion polls have forecast a landslide victory for Abbas. A poll released on Friday showed him with 52 percent of the vote to 25 percent for Barghouthi, a human rights activist.

A senior Israeli source said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would meet the election winner and was expected to offer a chance to coordinate a planned Israeli pullout from Gaza.

The Israeli leader was also expected to offer to pull troops out of some West Bank towns if the Palestinians "demonstrate capabilities to assume security responsibility" and "take the necessary steps to fight terrorism," said the source.

Abbas said Israeli soldiers should pull back to where they were before the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. He said he would demand Israel stop construction of settlements and a West Bank barrier that cuts into Palestinian territory.

"I do not have confidence that there will be a breakthrough or that we will reach a solution, but I have no other choice ... I will try to convince him of my ideas, but if I fail, then we'll see what happens," Abbas told reporters in Ramallah.

Sharon's plan to "disengage" from conflict with the Palestinians, involving evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank, was initially designed as a unilateral measure while Arafat was alive.

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