RAMALLAH, Nov 26: Jailed West Bank militant leader Marwan Barghouti announced on Friday he would npt run in next year's Palestinian leadership election, heading off a potentially damaging rift in the dominant Fatah faction.

In a statement read for him by Palestinian minister without portfolio Qaddura Fares in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Mr Barghouti called instead for Palestinians to support Fatah's official candidate, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chief Mahmoud Abbas, in the Jan 9 election.

"Members and supporters of Fatah (must) support the movement's candidate, the combatant, brother Mahmoud Abbas," read Mr Fares, who visited Mr Barghouti in his Israeli prison cell earlier in the day. Speculation had been rife that Mr Barghuti would announce formally his decision to stand in the vote. -AFP

Opinion

Fifty years later

Fifty years later

The nation is stuck in a repetitive cycle: striving for fair and timely polls, basic rights, and civilian empowerment.

Editorial

Healing old wounds
09 Dec, 2023

Healing old wounds

IN a development that will surely shine a spotlight on one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan’s democracy, the...
New Danish law
09 Dec, 2023

New Danish law

THE public defilement of Islamic sanctities — mainly by Islamophobic provocateurs in the West — serves no...
Elected set-up’s job
09 Dec, 2023

Elected set-up’s job

Backed by a powerful establishment, the interim government has done a fairly good job at executing IMF-mandated policies.
Privatising SOEs
Updated 08 Dec, 2023

Privatising SOEs

WHY does the government want to demolish the historic Roosevelt Hotel in New York — one of the eight properties ...
Filing returns
08 Dec, 2023

Filing returns

THE grim realities of Pakistan’s flailing efforts to ensure tax compliance often present themselves as farce....
Cost of negligence
08 Dec, 2023

Cost of negligence

ONCE again, Karachi has witnessed a tragic fire, this time engulfing a six-storey commercial-cum-residential ...