Barghouti mulls pulling out of Palestinian election

Barghouti, a grass-roots leader of the Palestinian uprising, is running neck-and-neck with moderate former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah's official candidate, in opinion polls for the Jan. 9 election to replace Yasser Arafat.

But Talab al-Sana, a lawmaker who visited him in an Israeli jail in the desert town of Beersheba on Tuesday, said in an interview with Reuters that Barghouti told him he would withdraw from the race if his candidacy caused turmoil within Fatah.

He said that Barghouti told him that he planned to hold discussions on a number of unspecified issues with Abbas and other Palestinian Authority leaders and then he would "make his decision whether he will take part in the election or not."

Asked if Barghouti would run, Sana said: "As far as (running for) head of the Palestinian Authority, he is considering the matter.

"A decision has not yet been taken ... I believe in the end he will act responsibly and take a decision that serves the unity of the Palestinian people," Sana said outside the prison.

Barghouti submitted an application via his wife last week to run in the election as an independent candidate.

Just days before, he had publicly ruled out running.

But Fatah leaders have since urged him to pull out of the election, saying that it could split Fatah, the dominant Palestinian faction founded by Arafat.

Barghouti's candidacy could undermine Abbas, seen by Israel and the United States as a potential peacemaker after four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Farouq Qaddoumi, a veteran leader who replaced Arafat as the head of Fatah, stated on Monday that Barghouti risked being kicked out of the movement if he did not withdraw

his candidacy.

"Any Fatah member who deliberately sets himself apart from decisions of its central committee is considered to have resigned his membership ... regardless of rank," the statement said.

Qaddoumi praised Barghouti as "a hero of the Palestinian cause," but said he was undermining the party, the statement said.

Unless Barghouti falls in line, "his membership in the Fatah movement will be eliminated by a decision of the central committee at its next meeting," according to the statement.

"The next step, which will see the Palestinian people take on the most arduous battle in its struggle, requires unity in the ranks to face up to the grave challenges to come," Qaddoumi told reporters while at the Tunisian capital.

Two polls showed Abbas and Barghouti in a virtual deadlock, while a third gave the former a commanding lead. There was no explanation for the wide discrepancy.

The United States and Israel were reluctantly getting used to the idea of dealing with Abbas, considered a moderate who opposes violence, when Barghouti's candidacy upset the assumptions.

Barghouti, 45, was the leader of Fatah in the West Bank before he was arrested by Israeli troops in 2002.

An Israeli court sentenced him to five life terms after he was convicted for ordering

the killings of Israelis during the uprising.

Barghouti has said denied any involvement in violence and insisted he was a political leader.

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