Israel accused of foul play by Palestinian election candidate

A prominent candidate in the Palestinian presidential elections accused Israel yesterday of "discrimination" in allowing the former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas to travel freely in the occupied territories while his rivals faced heavy restrictions.

A prominent candidate in the Palestinian presidential elections accused Israel yesterday of "discrimination" in allowing the former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas to travel freely in the occupied territories while his rivals faced heavy restrictions.

Mustafa Barghouti, a physician and human rights activist, claimed the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, was "saying one thing publicly and doing something else on the ground" because his promises to facilitate fair elections had not yet been fulfilled.

Dr Barghouti made his claim as the Palestinian Authority issued assurances that it had secured an agreement in principle with Israel that the elections would be run on the same basis as they had been when last held in 1996. Dr Barghouti was later involved in a clash with Israeli troops who he said had beaten him at gunpoint when he intervened after they scuffled with his aides.

He claimed the incident at a checkpoint outside Jenin was "deliberate sabotage against the elections." Military sources said Dr Barghouti and his entourage had refused to submit to a routine vehicle check and that he failed to give notice of his journey.

Mustafa Barghouti ­ whose candidacy is unconnected with that of his fellow contender Marwan Barghouti ­ was stopped on Tuesday at gunpoint by troops and prevented from entering a district in the West Bank city of Hebron. Threatening to mobilise a series of non-violent protests if such restrictions were not lifted within 36 hours, Dr Barghouti said that the elections were a "historic turning point" and that they were "our way of proving to the world that we are capable of being an independent sovereign state". He told a news conference in Ramallah that the election process was "at serious risk of interference", including from "external parties" who appeared to be making an assumption that "a certain candidate will win".

While Israeli politicians have been careful not to state their preferences, they and international politicians, ranging from Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian President, to Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, have made little secret of their hopes that Mr Abbas will win.

Mustafa Barghouti refused to say whether he also had in mind suggestions that a conference in London planned by Tony Blair mainly for Palestinian leaders might not go ahead if Marwan Barghouti won the election, scheduled for 9 January. In a boost for Mr Abbas, a critic of the armed Palestinian uprising, a poll last night showed that 52 per cent of Palestinians now opposed attacks against Israeilis.

Marwan Barghouti, who is jailed in Israel is under pressure from some Fatah colleagues to stand down.

Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian cabinet minister, said the Palestinian Authority had been assured elections would take place in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, as they had when Yasser Arafat was elected president in 1996.

Under the Palestinian basic law, the election campaign proper does not begin until 25 December, but supporters of more than one candidate are arguing that they need freedom of movement before then to begin preparatory work.

Ammar Dwaik, the chief executive of the Central Election Commission, said the commission had demanded an end to the restrictions to allow the candidates, and five nominated supporters, as well as commission officials themselves, to travel freely in the West Bank and Gaza, but indicated that there had not been a response.

An Israel Defence Forces spokesman, Captain Jacob Dallal, said yesterday that Mustafa Barghouti, like some other candidates, had "VIP status" that allowed him to travel through the territories.

Captain Dallal said in reference to the Hebron visit: "He should have done what other VIPs do and co-ordinate his movements with us. He didn't and there was a delay." He said the army was already "moving in the direction" of easing restrictions progressively in the run-up to polling day.