Election opens the way for Palestinian state 'within two years'

PATRICK COCKBURN

Jerusalem

A Palestinian state could be set up in two years, a senior member of the PLO said yesterday.

"If talks make progress, a Palestinian state could be established before the end of the three-year term of the [Palestine] Council," said Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, who negotiated the Oslo accords in 1993.

Although final figures for the election to the 88-member Palestinian Council have not been announced because of recounts, Mr Arafat's faction Fatah and its independent supporters are believed to have won 60 seats. Mr Arafat was easily elected President with 88 per cent of the vote.

A number of powerful independents also came top of the poll in their districts. These include Haidar Abdel-Shafi, the former head of the PLO's team to the peace talks in Washington, Hanan Ashrawi, a former spokeswoman of the delegation, and Ziad Abu Amr, a political science professor.

In Gaza, the Islamic movement Hamas decided at the last moment not to boycott the election and told its supporters to vote for sympathetic candidates, at least three of whom were returned. The Hamas action, surprising given that candidates more closely associated with the organisation had earlier been forced to drop out, contributed to the 90 per cent turn-out in Gaza.

Successful independents were generally supporters of the peace negotiations with Israel, but have had disputes with Mr Arafat. In Bethlehem, for instance, Salah Tamari, a charismatic figure who was a Palestinian military leader in Lebanon where he was captured by Israel, beat a wealthy contractor supported by Mr Arafat by 10,000 votes.

The peaceful and well-organised election has boosted the political fortunes of Shimon Peres, the Israeli Prime Minister. He was himself selected by the Labour party as its candidate for the premiership at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Meir Shetreet, a Likud member of Knesset, says his party should abandon its opposition to the Oslo accords in the general election later in the year. He says it should argue that it accepts them but will get a better deal than the Labour government when it comes to negotiating on the final status of Jerusalem, settlements, and other outstanding issues.

News analysis, page 13