Two opinion polls published today predicted a tight race for Palestinian president between interim leader Mahmoud Abbas and his jailed challenger, Marwan Barghouti, while a third survey gave Abbas the advantage.

Interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is emerging as the front-runner in presidential elections, with an 18-point lead over jailed uprising leader Marwan Barghouti, according to the first poll on how Palestinians will vote on January 9.

AN Israeli military court yesterday jailed a Palestinian for 27 years for training with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network and planning to carry out attacks against Israelis.