Jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti has decided not to compete in upcoming presidential elections, expressing his support to Mahmoud Abbas, the candidate of the ruling Fatah party, Palestinian officials said Friday.
Barghouti, 45, had considered challenging Abbas, 69, in the election to succeed Yasser Arafat.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Kadoura Fares, who is also a close aide of Barghouti, traveled to an Israeli jail in the city of Beersheba earlier on Friday to meet with him.
Fares told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah that Barghouti accepted Abbas' promise to hold internal elections in Fatah next year, and thus would support his candidacy. "After a meeting of four hours, during which we debated this issue, Marwan Barghouti sends this message to the Palestinian people and its fighters. ... He calls on the members of the movement to support the movement's candidate, Mahmoud Abbas," Fares said, according to The AP.
