26 December 2004	Sunday	13 Ziqa'ad 1425

RAMALLAH, Dec 25: Palestinian presidential frontrunner Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday called for a complete Israeli pullout from the occupied territories , a freeing of all prisoners and the right of return for refugees as he kicked off his campaign in defiant fashion.

Associating himself heavily with the legacy of Yasser Arafat, the moderate former premier delivered an uncharacteristically hardline message to Israel, which has been looking to his election as a historic chance for a breakthrough in the Middle East peace process.

Mr Abbas, the nomineee of the mainstream Fatah movement, who has already succeeded Yasser Arafat as chairman of the PLO, is one of seven candidates hoping to win the Jan 9 election to lead the Palestinian Authority.

In his speech to around 2,000 supporters in Ramallah, Mr Abbas spelled out his vision of an independent Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

"What we want to achieve is an end to the whole occupation," he said.

"We want a state on the lands of 1967 (when Israel began its occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem) and that means we will not concede Jerusalem," he added.

Proposals put forward by former Israeli premier Ehud Barak at the failed David Camp peace talks in late 2000 were dismissed as "stupid".

Mr Abbas said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip could only be the start of a much more comprehensive withdrawal.

"The withdrawal from Gaza must only be a part of other withdrawals which should follow," he added.

Mr Abbas's path to victory was cleared when jailed intifada leader Marwan Barghuti renounced his candidacy after heavy pressure from the Fatah leadership.

But Mr Abbas said the release of not only Mr Barghuti but all the 8,000 Palestinians estimated to be held in Israeli prisons was essential.

"If Israel wants peace then the prisoner issue must be settled," he said.

"Today we have two former prisoners with us," he added in reference to two former detainees who joined him on stage. "But we want everyone to be a former prisoner - above all else Marwan Barghuti."

REFUGEES RIGHT: On the issue of refugees, Mr Abbas said he would continue to hold out for an implementation of UN resolution 194, which stipulates the right of return for Palestinians who either left or were expelled from their homes when the state of Israel was created in 1948.

"We will continue holding to this resolution as a basis of the solution to the refugee problem," he said.

Mr Abbas said Thursday's municipal elections in parts of the West Bank was "an expression of the Palestinian people's heartfelt desire for freedom of expression and democracy" and confirmed that legislative elections should take place in the first half of next year.

There was no mention in his speech on the conduct of the four-year-old uprising. Mr Abbas caused consternation among some militant groups earlier this month by telling a newspaper interviewer that the use of weapons was a mistake and should end.

He did, however, stress that it was "forbidden to raise guns against each other" and thus undermine national unity.

He ended his speech by warning that peace in the wider Middle East would only be possible with a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We will not retreat from a just peace because without a just peace there will be no rest for anyone in the Middle East," Mr Abbas said as he launched his campaign to replace the late Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority.-AFP