RAMALLAH, Dec 1: The wife of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi said on Wednesday she had registered him to run for president to succeed Yasser Arafat.

Mr Barghouthi's candidacy as an independent dashed expectations of almost certain victory by the nominee of the Palestinian Fatah movement, Mahmoud Abbas, whose only other challengers were fringe figures.

"Yes, he is running for the presidency. I am registering him now," Barghouthi's wife Fadwa said after visiting him in jail, where he reversed an earlier decision not to run.

Barghouthi has already acquired more than the 5,000 signatures necessary to put his name on the ballot, the manager of a campaign to free him from jail said. Palestinian officials said last Thursday that Barghouthi had decided to run. But he opted to drop his candidacy a day later. -Reuters