Marwan Barghouthi, a Palestinian uprising leader jailed for life by Israel, has decided to run in the Palestinian presidential election slated for January 9th, a Fatah faction official said today.
The official, who said he had spoken with Barghouthi's lawyer, told reporters an announcement was expected later in the day.
However another official said Barghouthi would have to run for Palestinian president as an independent because the Fatah faction has formally endorsed Mahmoud Abbas as their candidate.
The official told reporters the council's approval of Abbas' candidacy meant "the door was closed" to Barghouthi running on the Fatah ticket to replace the late Yasser Arafat as Palestinian president.
Barghouthi may announce his candidacy tomorrow, Palestinian officials said.
Meanwhile Israel's president has strayed from the government line by proposing a halt to construction of a controversial West Bank barrier if a durable ceasefire is reached with the Palestinians.
Mr Moshe Katzav, who wields little political influence in his largely ceremonial post, said in an interview in Israel's Maariv newspaper today the project was "costing us a lot of money and creating international pressure and legal problems".
Asked if he favoured suspending construction of the barrier if a lasting ceasefire was reached with the Palestinians, he said: "Yes, and subsequently the Palestinians would have an incentive to cease fire."
Israel has said the barrier, built on land it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and judged illegal by the International Court of Justice last July, was a temporary measure to help prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from reaching its cities.
But it has never made an offer to cease construction under a truce.
The barrier, a network of razor wire-tipped electronic fences and concrete walls, has separated tens of thousands of Palestinians from their fields, schools and hospitals. Palestinians call it a grab for land they want for a state.
The interim Palestinian leadership that has taken control following Yasser Arafat's death on November 11th has begun tentative efforts to coax militants into talks on suspending suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis.
But the immediate prospects for a ceasefire look dim, with militants vowing to keep fighting until Israel halts all military operations in the Palestinian territories.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office declined comment on the president's remarks.
Mr Katzav is a member of Sharon's right-wing Likud party.