Jerusalem vote is on, says Abbas

Israel has softened its curbs on campaigning in East Jerusalem

The Palestinian leader says he has been given assurances by the US that Israel will allow Arabs in East Jerusalem to vote in the 25 January election.

Mahmoud Abbas said the assurance came from US President George Bush himself.

On Monday, Israel announced it would allow campaigning in East Jerusalem, except for members of Palestinian militant group, Hamas.

Israel had earlier indicated that Arab voters in the city might be blocked from taking part in the vote.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted by the AFP news agency on Monday as saying his country had agreed in principle to allow Arab residents of East Jerusalem to vote.

Delay threat

Mr Abbas has said any attempt to prevent a free vote in Jerusalem could lead to the election being delayed.

But on Monday he announced: "Today I received American assurances that the elections as well as electoral campaigning will take place in Jerusalem."

This is an internal Palestinian decision... so we've already started our campaign in East Jerusalem Ziad Dayeh Hamas

"The elections will proceed and God willing take place on time."

Last week, Israeli police stopped Palestinian candidates from campaigning in the area.

Israel's latest official announcement says candidates can campaign, but only after registering with police.

Israeli Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra said: "Anyone who is a supporter of Hamas will not receive permission."

Gaza problems

But Palestinian politicians rejected the conditions - and a Hamas official said that the organisation had already started campaigning in East Jerusalem.

"This is an internal Palestinian decision and internal Palestinian issue, so we've already started our campaign in East Jerusalem, and if Israeli forces want to stop some means of campaigning, we have alternative means and we can use them in our campaigning," Ziad Dayeh, the campaign manager for Hamas told BBC World TV.

Serious law and order problems in Gaza are also considered a threat to the election, says our Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston.

Mr Abbas acknowledged that there were elements intent on trying to sabotage the election process but said he had instructed the security forces to do everything to ensure that the voting passes off peacefully.

The 200,000-odd Palestinians living in the eastern part of East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967, were allowed to vote in an election in 1996, in which Hamas did not take part.