Marwan Barghouti

The announcement, made on Barghouti's behalf at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, came a day after associates said Barghouti was determined to seek the presidency, left vacant by the Nov. 11 death of Yasser Arafat.

But officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization's dominant Fatah faction appeared to have dissuaded Barghouti, a popular leader from the West Bank who would have posed a serious challenge to Abbas.

Barghouti urged his supporters to back Abbas, 69, who took over as PLO chairman following Arafat's death.

Barghouti's decision to sit out the race represents a big boost for Abbas, now the undisputed front-runner, and spares Israel from international pressure to release Barghouti, who is serving five consecutive life sentences for terrorist murders, to pursue the presidency.

The Japan Times Weekly: Dec. 4, 2004
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