RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov. 25 -- The Revolutionary Council of the dominant Palestinian political faction, Fatah, approved former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday as its candidate to succeed Yasser Arafat in a presidential election set for Jan. 9.
The decision, announced by senior Palestinian official Tayeb Abdul Rahim, came three days after Fatah's Central Committee unanimously nominated Abbas, who took over the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization after Arafat's death on Nov. 11. Abdul Rahim told reporters that 100 of the Revolutionary Council's 129 members voted for Abbas as Fatah's nominee for president of the Palestinian Authority.
Abbas, 69, is favored by Israel and the United States because of his calls to end a Palestinian armed uprising launched in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip four years ago. But the council vote was seen largely as a rubber-stamp approval of his candidacy as Abbas, once viewed as a front-runner to replace Arafat, faced a new challenge. Officials said that Marwan Barghouti, a jailed leader of the uprising and a fellow member of Fatah, might also announce his candidacy.
Barghouti, 45, who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison, has a stronger base than Abbas among young Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Abbas also faces challenges from militant groups that have vowed to keep fighting Israel.
Meanwhile Thursday, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw laid a wreath at Arafat's West Bank grave and said talks with new Palestinian leaders had given him optimism about a revival of Middle East peacemaking. Straw was the first leader from the European Union to visit the tomb of Arafat, who was shunned by Israel and the United States.
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