MIDDLE EAST: Palestinian leader Mr Mahmoud Abbas said in a presidential campaign speech yesterday that he would never take up arms against militant groups whose dismantlement is part of a US-sponsored peace "road map".
"They are freedom fighters . . . and should live a dignified and safe life," said Mr Abbas, whose call for an end to violence in a four-year-old Palestinian uprising has been rejected by militants whose support he is courting in Sunday's election.
Mr Abbas, front-runner in the race to succeed Yasser Arafat, said he was determined to ensure only one authority was in charge of the Palestinian territories, a message to armed groups that attack Israel and have rejected his ceasefire appeals. But he said he would achieve that goal through "dialogue and discussion" as he pursued national unity.
"Palestinians taking up arms against each other will not happen," Mr Abbas pledged.
The violence-stalled road map, charting mutual steps with Israel towards the creation of a Palestinian state, calls for the Palestinian Authority to begin "operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror, and dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure".
Mr Jibril Rajoub, a senior Palestinian security official, also ruled out armed confrontation with militants. "The presidential election will be a turning point in Palestinian political life, and the minority must accept the choice of the majority," Mr Rajoub said.
The militant Hamas group, which has spearheaded a suicide bombing campaign in Israel and advocates destruction of the Jewish state, has privately expressed concern over Mr Abbas's non-violence agenda. But Hamas officials said the Islamic group would try to avoid a standoff with Mr Abbas.
"We will not clash with anybody. We do not seek confrontation," said Sheikh Hassan Youssef, the group's leading West Bank official. Sheikh Youssef said Hamas would boycott the presidential election and not support any of the seven candidates. Palestinian gunmen, including a militant leader on Israel's most-wanted list, hoisted Mr Abbas, the candidate of the mainstream Fatah faction, on their shoulders during a campaign appearance in the West Bank town of Jenin last week.
On NBC television's Meet The Press programme on Sunday, US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, described the scene as "disturbing" but said Mr Abbas "has to reach out to all parts of the Palestinian community".
Six militant factions, including Hamas, issued a statement yesterday condemning Mr Abbas's description of their mortar bomb and rocket attacks on Jewish settlements in Gaza and southern Israel as counter-productive strikes that bring only heavy retaliation.