A Fiery Abbas Gets a Lift From Militants

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-abbas2jan02.story
A Fiery Abbas Gets a Lift From Militants
The candidate's tough talk could solidify a mandate in upcoming Palestinian presidential vote. He is a moderate, but Israel is uneasy.
By Laura King
Times Staff Writer

January 2, 2005

JERUSALEM — Mahmoud Abbas, the leading candidate for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority in next Sunday's election, appears to be winning over a key constituency: Palestinian militants and their supporters.

Abbas got a tumultuous welcome Saturday in the Rafah refugee camp, one of the most violence-plagued corners of the Gaza Strip throughout the more than four years of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In an incongruous but increasingly familiar scenario, black-clad militants armed with assault rifles hoisted the candidate, clad in his usual sober business suit, onto their shoulders and paraded him before a cheering crowd. So many supporters jammed the rundown wedding hall where he spoke that Abbas had to climb out a window when it was time to leave.

The 69-year-old frontrunner, commonly known as Abu Mazen, had been accorded a similar reception two days earlier in the restive Jenin refugee camp, where a troupe of gunmen led by one of the West Bank's most wanted men, Zakariya Zubeidi, demonstrated their enthusiasm for his candidacy by firing deafening bursts into the air.

Although the militants' support is boosting Abbas' popular standing and helping to set the stage for a decisive mandate that observers believe he must win if he is to effectively exercise power, the candidate is also walking a tightrope.<snip>

[ArkDem]

1. I wish they would get back together, Fernando.

[Forkboy]

2. lol

:)