Fatah Leader Won’t Enter Race

A spokesman for Marwan Barghouti said Friday that the jailed Palestinian leader had decided not to run for president of the Palestinian Authority after all and would back the nominee of his Fatah faction, Mahmoud Abbas.

The announcement, made on Barghouti’s behalf at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, came a day after associates said Barghouti was determined to seek the presidency, left vacant by the Nov. 11 death of Yasser Arafat.

But officials of Fatah, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s dominant faction, appeared to have dissuaded Barghouti, a popular leader from the West Bank who would have posed a serious challenge to Abbas.

Fatah legislator Kadoura Fares on Friday visited the Israeli prison where his close ally is being held to discuss the prospective bid, which threatened to split the movement.

By the end of the four-hour meeting, Barghouti said he would pass up the race in the interest of Fatah unity, Fares told reporters. Barghouti urged his supporters to back Abbas, 69, who took over as PLO chairman after Arafat’s death.

Barghouti’s decision to sit out the race is a boost for Abbas, now the undisputed front-runner, and spares Israel from international pressure to release Barghouti soon so he could pursue the presidency.

Israel has said it would do what it could to ensure smooth Palestinian elections but would not free Barghouti, who is serving five consecutive life terms in connection with the deaths of five people slain by militants.

U.S. officials, who see Abbas as a voice for moderation, are probably relieved by the decision. But Barghouti’s followers were disappointed, and some attending the news conference shouted that they didn’t believe Fares. Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, left without commenting.

“If that’s Marwan’s decision, then we’ll have to accept it and abide by the movement’s decision” to nominate Abbas, said Jamal Lafi, a Fatah member who had wanted Barghouti to run.

Barghouti, a 45-year-old lawmaker and one of the most visible leaders of the 4-year-old Palestinian uprising, has a much broader grass-roots following than Abbas.

Barghouti leads a younger generation of Fatah members who complain they have been shut out of power by an old guard of longtime Arafat loyalists, including Abbas, who returned from exile with the late Palestinian leader in 1994.

In an apparent bid to reach out to the younger members, Fatah leaders announced Friday that they would hold a party caucus in August -- the first such gathering since 1989.

New party elections have been a frequent demand of the young guard, many of whom are in their 40s. Party elders said last summer that such a session would probably be held in a year.

The planned internal elections will fill two key leadership panels, the Central Committee and Revolutionary Council.

“We have a new situation in our land,” said Amin Maqboul, a member of the 126-member Revolutionary Council. “We think there are many things that need to change in the system of Fatah.”

The gathering is scheduled to take place Aug. 4.

Times special correspondent Maher Abukhater in Ramallah contributed to this report.