Israel turfs Abbas rivals out of Jerusalem


AFP
 Date: 01-07-05

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Two Palestinian presidential candidates were kicked out of Jerusalem by Israel on the final day of campaigning as front-runner Mahmud Abbas paid a symbolic graveside tribute to Yasser Arafat.

Mustafa Barghuti, an independent who is running a distant second to Abbas, was briefly detained by Israeli security forces when he tried to attend prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque in occupied east Jerusalem while People's Party candidate Bassam al-Salhi was also ordered to leave while addressing a rally.

PLO chairman Abbas decided to stay away from Al-Aqsa, instead paying tribute to Arafat and pledging to fulfill his dream of creating an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

"Arafat reminds us of the huge sacrifices made by the Palestinian people to free his land and obtain an independent state," Abbas said in comments marking Martyrs Day.

"We will never forget our martyrs and wounded who gave their lives for the land," he added at the graveside in a courtyard of the Muqataa compound where Arafat was confined by Israel for most of the last three years of his life.

Abbas, who served as prime minister under Arafat and has already succeeded him as chairman of the PLO, is widely expected to romp home in Sunday's vote.

He was also travelled to the West Bank Jerusalem suburbs of Bir Nabala but decided not to proceed with initial plans to attend prayers at Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam and the symbol of the Palestinian struggle for independence.

"Al-Quds (east Jerusalem) is ours," he told around 2,000 supporters at Bir Nabala. "We are committed to the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."

He had earlier told reporters in Ramallah that Palestinians would never "accept anything less than a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital" and vowed any final status agreement with Israel would be put to a referendum of all the residents of the occupied territories and the Palestinian diaspora.

He also reiterated calls for the release of all Palestinians held in Israeli jails for the dismantling of the barrier which has cut West Bank Palestinians off from Israel and for Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem, the Israeli police and foreign ministry accused Barghuti of deliberately violating an agreement he had reached with the Israeli authorities in order to be arrested and raise the profile of his campaign.

"He is not allowed to go to Al-Aqsa and he knows it. The Al-Aqsa mosque is a place to pray and not for propaganda," Israeli police spokesman Shmulik Ben Ruby told AFP.

As he was being whisked away, Barghuti flashed a V-for-victory sign to the hundreds of worshippers flocking to the mosque.

"You are arresting a presidential candidate who has a permit to be in Jerusalem," Barghuti shouted as he was being dragged into a white car by two Israeli security men in civilian clothes.

After a brief interrogation, Barghuti was released at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah, Ben Ruby said, adding that he would not be allowed to return to the city without obtaining a new permission agreement.

Shortly afterwards, Israeli security officials also gave Salhi his marching orders when they raided a campaign rally at a theater in east Jerusalem.

"Several members of the Shin Bet in civilian clothes came to the theatre where he was holding a rally and ordered him to leave Jerusalem now," his campaign manager Mohammed al-Atar told AFP, referring to Israel's internal security service.

"They told us his permit was only to enter Jerusalem and not to campaign there," Atar added.

The People's Party ticket (the former communist party) complied with the request and left for Ramallah under a heavy police escort, he said.

Israeli authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Israel has placed strict limits on electioneering within the city that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon regards as the undivided and undisputed capital of the Jewish state.

Source

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