Jailed militant leader Marwan Barghouthi will quit the Palestinian presidential race if his political demands are met by his rival a Fatah official has said.
A withdrawal by Barghouthi would end a simmering political crisis and all but assure victory for former prime minister Mr Mahmoud Abbas - a moderate favoured by Israel and Washington as a potential peacemaker.
The two had been running neck-and-neck for the January 9th ballot for a successor to Mr Yasser Arafat. But an opinion poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre today put Mr Abbas more than 5 per cent ahead.
Barghouthi a popular grass-roots figure in the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, has presented a list of demands, including an insistence that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
"If Abbas agrees to adopt these points, Marwan will withdraw and an announcement will be made very soon," the senior Fatah official said.
Barghouthi's candidacy has become a source of controversy within Fatah who have backed Mr Abbas and urged the jailed militant to abandon his election bid.
A victory for Barghouthi would pose problems for reviving long-stalled peace talks with Israel . Because he is serving five life terms for directing attacks that killed Israelis. He has denied the charges.
Among his the conditions he is setting, is a pledge from Mr Abbas to pursue a just solution to the refugee problem, Israel 's release of Palestinian prisoners and a halt to arrests and killings of militants.
He also wants mr Abbas to insist that Israel pull back its forces from the West Bank before the election and to halt construction of the so-called security wall that rings in much of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel
says it will consider easing its military grip if a moderate leadership takes power.