AL QUDS, July 24: Fearing that President Yasser Arafat will be re- elected, the United States would prefer that the Palestinian Authority hold only municipal, and not presidential, elections in January, Israel Radio said on Wednesday.

Citing a “classified message” sent from Washington to Israel, the radio reported the Bush Administration fears Arafat will consolidate his power in any presidential poll.

Both the United States and Israel have called for a change in the Palestinian leadership as a means of advancing the peace process, and have made no secret of their desire to see Arafat sidelined.

Arafat called municipal and presidential elections after coming under fierce international pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority, which many see as blighted by corruption and bloated by bureaucracy.

Foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have warned that municipal elections might result in the strengthening of the militant Islamic fundamentalist Hamas movement, the classified message reportedly states.—dpa