Egypt: Israeli actions not contributing to success of PA elections

Egypt said on Saturday that Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories would not help the January 9 Palestinian Authority elections succeed and that the Israel must live up to promises to facilitate the poll.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called for an immediate halt to what he called an Israeli escalation. He said in a statement the policy did "not help...in participating in the success of the Palestinian presidential elections.?

"(Aboul Gheit) emphasised the necessity that Israel implement what it promised on facilitating the holding of the Palestinian elections," the statement said.

The operations would not help in creating the right atmosphere for a return to the peace process, it added.

Gunmen give Abbas warm welcome in GazaDozens of gunmen gave a warm welcome to interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, hoisting him on their shoulders and pledging loyalty to his campaign for the Palestinian presidency.

The gunmen were among tens of thousands of people to greet Abbas in Rafah, a teeming camp in southern Gaza that has seen some of the heaviest fighting during the past four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

The camp was decorated with large posters of Abbas, and the crowd was in such a frenzy that Abbas was forced to leave an indoor campaign rally through the window of the building.

"Rafah suffers from oppression and occupation, but it will not be defeated and humiliated and will not back down except after victory and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital," Abbas told the cheering crowd.

Abbas, the front-runner in the January 9 presidential election, has been courting armed groups in recent days, even though he has spoken out against violence and called for a negotiated settlement with Israel. The campaigning has prompted questions about whether Abbas is playing campaign politics or identifying with violent groups.

Abbas, who lives in the West Bank, traveled to Gaza this week to mark the 40th anniversary of the ruling Fatah movement. On Jan. 1, 1965, Fatah carried out its first attack on an Israeli target - an explosion at a water tower in which one Fatah member was killed and a second arrested.

Abbas' convoy was stopped by the group of gunmen as it entered Rafah on Saturday. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, got out of his car and made his way through the ecstatic crowd.

The gunmen placed an Arab headdress on his shoulders and chanting "with our blood and souls, we will redeem you Abu Mazen." The gunmen hoisted Abbas on their shoulders and carried him through the crowd before he headed into a nearby hall to deliver his speech.

At the rally, Abbas praised the residents of Rafah. Israeli troops frequently operate in the area, trying to halt weapons smugglers who work along the Egyptian border. Dozens of Palestinians have died in the fighting, and thousands of people have lost their homes in military operations.

"The killing and assassinations and the bulldozing did not prevent us from visiting Rafah ... the steadfast Rafah," Abbas said.

Abbas repeatedly praised longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died on Nov. 11. Both men were among the founders of the Fatah movement.

"Today we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the revolution begun by Abu Ammar," he said, referring to Arafat. "We will continue until a Palestinian boy and girl place a Palestinian flag over the walls and minarets of Jerusalem," he said.

Repeating previous campaign themes, Abbas pledged to find a fair solution for the hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced after the establishment of Israel, called for the release of prisoners held by Israel, and praised Palestinians killed in the fighting. He also called for Palestinian unity.

The large crowd chanted pro-Abbas slogans, and the hall became so crowded that Abbas had to exit through a window.

Gaza is a stronghold of Hamas, the largest Palestinian opposition group. Hamas is boycotting the Jan. 9 election, but has said it will honor the results and participate in legislative elections scheduled for later next year.

Abbas has been an outspoken critic of violence against Israel, saying the past four years of violence have done little for the Palestinian cause. But in recent days, he has repeatedly reached out to militant groups, including a public encounter Thursday with prominent West Bank gunman Zakariya Zubeidi, the commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who is wanted by Israel.

Zubeidi and Abbas met face to face and the militant even hoisted the Palestinian leader on his shoulders.

His aides have said he needs the support of the Palestinian street for a large margin of victory that would enable him to negotiate with Israel in the future.

Zubeidi told Channel 10 TV news that, "We are not talking about the end of the intifada, not about a cease-fire and not about an end to terror attacks."

Regarding the wanted militants, Abbas said that, "They are neither criminals nor murderers. Rather they are fighting for the honorable lives of their Palestinians brothers."

Discussions of Temple Mount visit ongoingIsraeli and Palestinian officials have been meeting over the past few days to discuss the possibility of allowing Abbas to make an election campaign visit to East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount next week. The visit would come several days before the January 9 elections in the Palestinian Authority.

Senior Fatah sources in the Jerusalem area told Haaretz about the talks and confirmed that the two sides discussed a possible Abbas visit to the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif.

Israel Police officials met Thursday in a Jerusalem hotel with Palestinian figures in the lead-up to the elections.

Police sources refused Thursday to reveal what was discussed in the meeting but said the two sides were seeking to organize the permissibility of election campaigning in East Jerusalem and to determine security arrangements.

The decision to allow Abbas into Jerusalem is in the hands of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. If the election jaunt is authorized at the political level, this would be the first visit in Jerusalem of a Palestinian personality of Abbas' level.

Israel had in the past prevented Yasser Arafat from visiting Jerusalem. In one instance at the beginning of the intifada, however, Israel allowed his convoy to pass adjacent to the Old City while he was making his way to Jericho.

Police said Thursday that, "Jerusalem police will carry out every directive issued by the political level."

	Fatah commander Zakariya Zubeidi (left) carrying interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Jenin refugee camp on Thursday. (AP)