Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, a frontrunner for the January 9 presidential election, has cancelled plans for a campaign appearance in Arab East Jerusalem, a Palestinian official said today.
Mr Abbas called off tomorrow's tour because he objected to the possibility of being seen with Israeli troops around him, and will instead tour a Palestinian town on the edge of the city, another official said.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it as part of its capital in a move not recognised by the international community. Palestinians want the city to be capital of a state they seek to build in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Mr Abbas, a moderate running to replace President Yasser Arafat who died on November 11, had planned to visit the Israeli-patrolled Mount of Olives area.
But instead, he will visit al-Ram town on the northern outskirts of the city less frequented by Israeli forces, officials said.
Mr Abbas pledged in a campaign tour of the West Bank city of Nablus tomorrow where he was thronged by militants and civilians alike, to pursue peace talks with Israel after the election which he is widely expected to win.
He has called on militants to end the violence of a 4-year-old Palestinian uprising and for militants to curtail rocket attacks on Israeli targets.