RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas insisted Friday that the first Palestinian parliamentary elections in nine years will go ahead as scheduled this July, despite calls from his own aides for a delay.
Abbas -- who is to meet US President George W. Bush in two weeks -- "denied any plans to delay the elections," in an interview with the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat published on Friday.
His remarks came after fundamentalist Islamic movement Hamas, which is contesting the legislative polls for the first time and is the main challenger to Abbas's dominant Fatah faction, rejected any possible postponement.
Fears are mounting within Fatah that Hamas could capitalise on recent successes in local elections and carve out a major role in the new parliament at its expense.
One of Abbas's senior aides, Tayeb Abdelrahim, had said Thursday he believed there were convincing reasons for a delay, including the time required to formalise various amendments to the electoral law.
Abbas also chastised Israel over comments by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom that its planned pullout from Gaza starting in August should be halted if Hamas wins the election, warning that its stance could risk a fragile truce
"Israel is calling for democracy when such comments are contrary to democracy," Abbas said. "Hamas is naturally evolving into a political party and will run in the elections and take part in government."
The Palestinian leader is to leave on May 26 for Washington for talks with Bush, deputy prime minister Nabil Shaath said.
It will be the first trip to the White House by a Palestinian Authority president since Bush took office in January 2001 given his administration's long-time boycott of Abbas's predecessor the late Yasser Arafat.
Abbas has signalled he will ask Washington to put political pressure on Israel to adhere to the roadmap peace plan and for economic aid.
His visit is likely to cement his growing rapprochement with the Bush administration, which has congratulated him on his pledge to crack down on violence and for imbibing the Middle East peace process with "activism".
Indirect praise also came from an Israeli general who warned in an interview with Yediot Aharonot that forcing the Palestinian leadership to wage an all-out war against armed groups would spark civil war in the occupied territories.
Instead, the Palestinian Authority "is trying to use persuasion. I do not see it committed to a show of force and we should not ask it to," General Gadi Eisenkott, outgoing Israeli commander in the West Bank, was quoted as saying.
Eisenkott said there had been no alert for any possible Palestinian attacks in weeks, despite reports from senior Israeli officials speaking of an upturn in violence.
In a sign of efforts being made, nearly 70 Palestinians on Israel's wanted list have handed their weapons over to the Palestinian Authority and are sheltering in the West Bank city of Jericho, a spokesman said Friday.
"We gave our weapons to the Palestinian Authority several days ago in keeping with the truce agreement," Abdallah al-Qarawi, one of the 67 wanted Palestinians, told AFP.
After transferring control of Jericho and Tulkarem to the Palestinians in March, Israel has since frozen plans to transfer responsibility for other West bank towns insisting Abbas has not done enough to disarm militant groups.
05/13/2005 14:34 GMT