Marwan Barghouti remains on target in his quest to become the Moqtada al-Sadr of Palestinian politics. In yet another tiresome reversal, Bargouti will now withdraw from the Palestinian presidential election:

Imprisoned uprising leader Marwan Barghouti is dropping out the Jan. 9 election to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority, associates said Sunday. ...

Barghouti's wife, Fadwa, called a news conference in Ramallah to read a letter from her husband harshly critical of the Fatah leadership but implying that he would pull out of the race. Associates said Fadwa would formally withdraw his candidacy on Monday.

His harsh criticism of Fatah leadership springs from their sudden focus on creating the possibility of a negotiated settlement on statehood with Israel and the sudden dearth of financing now that their sponsor Saddam Hussein got pulled out of his spider hole. Before Arafat's death, Fatah may have been pleased to run a candidate from an Israeli prison, especially when the American military wasn't blanketing Southwest Asia. Low on funds and with Egyptian pressure to make a deal now, Fatah wants to hold onto power, and Mubarak has already made its preference for true negotiations known. Without Egyptian support, Fatah would dissolve.

However, if the track record of Barghouti means anything, we should expect to see him re-enter the race sometime next week.

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The flip flop hall of fame, that is. Marwan Barghouti, the on again off again on again candidate for the January 9 Palestinian election is off again. He has decided to throw his support behind Abbas, the front runner and an avowed holocaust denier. ... [Read More]

Tracked on December 12, 2004 3:37 PM