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Barghouti calls for Fatah`s reunification


Daily Star staff
Friday, December 23, 2005

Official warns voting ban in east jerusalem threatens civil war

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=20982

Jailed uprising leader Marwan Barghouti called Thursday for the reunification of the Fatah party and a senior Palestinian official warned Israel`s attempt to ban voting in East Jerusalem could spark a civil war. On another front, Israeli occupation troops killed four Palestinians militants in a West Bank clash and shelled the Gaza Strip to stop rocket fire. Israel`s vice premier warned of the possibility of an invasion of the Strip by ground troops if violence continues.

Amid fears the increasingly popular Hamas could win the election, Fatah`s veteran leaders were trying Thursday to rein in Barghouti`s Future list, an offshoot formed from a younger generation of party members.

The young guard defected in anger over Abbas` decision to ignore party primaries and fill Fatah`s parliamentary slate with veterans tainted by corruption.

In a statement from prison, Barghouti called on the Fatah officials `to unite and act immediately to create one united list for Fatah.`

He also called on militant groups to allow the election to proceed peacefully and condemned outside efforts to interfere in the election.

Sources from both wings of the party said they hoped a compromise would soon be reached.

`Negotiations are taking place at the moment and an agreement could be reached in the next two days,` Dalal Salameh, who represented Fatah in the last Parliament told AFP.

Another Fatah source connected to the Future list said `serious discussions` had taken place over the past 48 hours between President Mahmoud Abbas and one of the most prominent of the Future candidates, civil affairs minister Mohammed Dahlan.

`It was agreed that Fatah would have a single list which would not include any ministers or the current deputies or members of the central committee,` said the source.

A similar comment came from a member of Fatah`s central committee after a meeting Thursday night.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Abbas had also met with another member of the Future list, Qaddoura Fares, and was also holding discussions on the particulars of a deal.

It was expected that Barghouti, who has remained an MP despite being given five life sentences by an Israeli court last year, would top the unified list.

A close ally of Barghouti told AFP that the uprising leader had sent a letter to the Fatah leadership to let it be known that he was not opposed to the merging of the two lists.

The deal would not necessarily prevent sitting Fatah MPs or ministers or members of the central committee from running for Parliament in their local constituencies.

Although the deadline for candidates to register was on December 14, Fatah sources said they would ask the elections commission for special dispensation to resubmit a combined list.

Israel has threatened to ban elections in East Jerusalem if the Palestinian Authority does not prevent Hamas from running, raising fears the vote would be postponed.

Any delay in the elections would create the impression among many Palestinians that Fatah had used the Israeli pressure as an excuse when it really wants to put the poll off to bolster its support in facing Hamas, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Such a scenario would bring `greater chaos and lawlessness,` Erekat said. Asked if a civil war would erupt, Erekat said, `I think it`s possible.`

Once Abbas receives a final answer from Israel on East Jerusalem, he will present it to all parties running, and together they will decide on whether to delay the elections, Erekat said.

In an escalation of violence, Israeli soldiers on a raid in Nablus killed the three fighter in a gun battle, including the West Bank commander of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine`s armed wing, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

In retaliation, Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said they fired a makeshift rocket from Gaza that wounded five soldiers on a base in southern Israel. The occupation army responded with artillery. Several rockets landed near sensitive infrastructure installations outside the Israeli city of Ashkelon. - Agencies
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