Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah party has set a date for a primary election to choose candidates for the summer parliamentary vote.

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.

PALESTINIAN officials said yesterday that jailed uprising leader Marwan Barghouti will not run for president in upcoming Palestinian elections.

THE Iraqi town of Samarra was partly devastated after US troops yesterday responded to two ambushes.

Israel has vowed not to negotiate with any new government hand-picked by Yasser Arafat, in the first public warning to those trying to topple beleaguered Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas.

Islamic militants agreed to halt attacks on Israelis for three months, Palestinian negotiators said, but the tenuous deal was immediately undercut by an Israeli airstrike and Hamas threats of revenge.