Shalom: Barghouthi will not take part in the new Palestinian leadership

The Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom yesterday denied the possibility that the Palestinian parliamentarian Marwan Barghouthi, who was sentenced to imprisonment by Israel, to take part in the new Palestinian leadership.

Shalom said "Barouhgthi is sentenced to imprisonment for life and will remain in jail until the last days of his life because he had taken part in many terrorist attacks which resulted in the death of several innocent Israelis." Very often Barghouthi, the secretary of the Fatah Movement in the West Bank was considered as a likely successor for Arafat because of his great popularity.

For his part, Barghouthi called on the Palestinians to continue the Intifada and resistance as a loyalty to Arafat. In a statement quoted by one of his lawyers he said "words are unable to express the extent of pain and sorrows over the demise of President Yasser Arafat, the leader of the nation." He added that the important thing is to abide by national principles and values advocated by the "martyr leader who devoted all his life for it especially national unity and the option of the Intifada and resistance." Barghouthi stressed "faithfulness to the President should be through a genuine democracy working according to establishments and the supremacy of the law."